Dubai: Don’t just lose weight by watching your diet. Hit the jogging track, go to the gym or, better yet, head to Safa Park on Monday for Dubai Municipality’s Open Day camp at Safa Park. The park is one of three locations to host activities at night for those who are willing to lose weight,
To further inspire thousands of people to lose weight and win gold at the same time for the ‘Your Weight in Gold’ campaign, the civic body has organised Open Day camps at three different venues with the first camp held on Monday at Safa Park – Gate 2, followed by a camp at Zabeel Park – Gate 3 on Wednesday, and a camp at Mamzar Beach Track on Friday. The camps will be complete with facilities for outdoor exercise and sports activities. All functions will begin by 5pm and end at 9pm.
Private firms that provide services for losing weight will also be on hand to help. This is to encourage participants not to crash diet just to win some gold.
“During these open days, participants will have a chance to have different kinds of medical check-ups as well as participate in diverse kinds of sport [activities] that may give them the right direction to lead a healthy life and thus lose weight in a safe way,” Yousuf Murad Salmeen, head of the media section at the civic body, said.
As many as 10,000 people have registered in the campaign that aims to making losing weight in Dubai the most rewarding experience they can get. People who lose one to five kilograms will get one gram of gold for each kilo they lose. Those who lose five to 10 kg will get two grams of gold for each kilo lost while those who shed more than 10kg will get three grams of gold per kilo shed.
A 2013 UN report on the world’s fattest developed nations said the UAE is the fourth fattest nation in the region with a 33.7 per cent obesity prevalence among adults.
Besides these special open day camps, the civic body has also started special camps on Wednesdays and Thursdays at the various registration centres to provide medical and health instructions to participants.
“Experts and health consultants will be available there to impart necessary instructions and advice to participants in order to assist them to complete the mission in a safe and healthier way,” Salmeen said.
The civic body has also established a connection between participants and medical experts through a hotline number 04-2064055 or 04-2064077. All queries regarding safe weight loss will be answered by medical and nutrition experts between 10am and 12pm.
Participants have until August 30 to shed those unwanted pounds. Official weigh-in and re-measuring of participants will be done on August 30 and will continue for four days to determine the winners.
