Dubai: The civic body’s health initiative has received an overwhelming response from residents who have jumped on the bandwagon to lose their weight in gold.
On the first day alone, 4,000 people signed up for the ‘Your Child in Gold’ campaign, and municipality officials say they expect to receive a total of at least 15,000 before the campaign ends.
Waleed Al Shaibani, head of Dubai Municipality Club and coordinator of the campaign, told Gulf News on Sunday that residents are taking advantage of the online registration facility, www.thedmgold.com, which will reduce the time spent waiting in line once the onsite registration opens on Tuesday.
“The initiative this year is aimed at encouraging children and families to participate, and educating them on how to address the issue of obesity that is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle and addiction to TV, internet and other electronic devices,” he said.
Last year, a total of 9,666 people registered for the ‘Your Weight in Gold’ initiative and 2,648 participants won gold according to the weight lost. First place was won by Ahmad Al Shaikh, 28, a Syrian, who lost 26 kilograms and received 63 grams of gold worth Dh10,048.
“Participating children must first get medical advice from the nutritionists that are available at all the five sites prior to registration, in order to confirm their fitness to participate,” said Al Shaibani.
According to the World Health organisation, the UAE has one of the highest rates of obesity with 67 per cent among men and 72 per cent among women. In 2013, the UAE also ranked 15th globally where 18.98 per cent of people suffer from diabetes.
UAE national Mohammad Al Hammadi, 27, weighs 73kg and aims to lose about 5kg during the two-month competition, which ends on September 1.
“I am already not eating much because of Ramadan, so I want to focus on exercising. I want to be healthier, and the gold was not an incentive. After Isha prayer, I’ll be running and exercising for about 45 minutes, and plan to do it every day,” he said.
Saju Rambas, 34, from India, said this was the second time he is participating in the campaign.
“I travelled last year during the first competition, and was unable to lose any weight. I am 113kg and hope to lose 15kg by September, and my wife has also joined the campaign. I want to do much better this time, and am putting myself on a diet. I will cut back on sweets, eat healthier, and go for one-hour walks every day,” he said.
Fatima Al Madani, 28, a UAE national, has been dieting and exercising for the last two years, and has lost 60kg.
“I now weigh 73kg and want to lose 10kg. I’m still doing the same exercise routine and diet that I was on two years ago, and have changed my eating habits drastically. I eat lots of fruit and have little portions of food during the day,” she said.
