A MALVERN technology company has launched a new health app, to help in the battle against public obesity.

Select Research’s new Body Volume Index (BVI) app is attracting lots of attention in the USA as an alternative to what many experts feel is the outdated Body Mass Index (BMI) approach to assessing healthy weight levels.

The BVI Pro app has been launched as an indicator and can be downloaded for free on the UK App Store for iPad only, with further developments planned.

The BMI scale has long been used to determine what it means to be overweight, but critics have argued it’s too simplistic.

The BVI approach considers more specific factors like weight distribution, waist-to-hip ratio, total body fat percentage and abdominal volumes, resulting in more accurate measurements to help weight-loss programmes.

Thursfields Solicitors advised the firm on various corporate and commercial matters, including a series of equity fundraisings, in the period leading up to launch of the app.

Richard Barnes, the founder and chief executive of Select Research, said: “We are hoping the new information BVI provides will allow healthcare professionals to help their patients in ways that weren’t possible before.

“Because the well-known BMI was invented in 1835, the launch of our BVI in the USA earlier this month has attracted a lot of attention, which has been very welcome.”

Gareth Burge, director of Thursfields, added: “Select Research is an excellent local technology company that has great expertise in the health sector, and has been working hard on its new BVI app.

“Thursfields is so pleased that our own legal expertise has helped Select Research to achieve the launch of this potentially life-changing product.”

The hashtag #SpeakVolumes on social media is being used to create a wider conversation about the new BVI measurement.