Assessing thousands of their members based on weight, fat, general health, and death rate, Metropolitan Life determines a "standard desirable" weight for all men.

Metropolitan's chart builds on the Body Mass Index chart, which was invented by Belgian academic and non-physician Adolphe Quetelet, and has been criticized for years based on its assumption of a single healthy body type that is rooted in oppressive constructs of race, geography, gender, age, ability, and more.