Ras Al Khaimah: It were ten weeks of sheer hard work, determination, motivation and self-discipline as 10,944 participants across UAE battled their bulge at ‘The RAK Biggest Weight Loser Challenge’, launched by RAK Hospital in association with Ministry of Health and Prevention, Ras Al Khaimah. While the top four winners recorded a combined weight loss of 126kg, all the 16 winners were announced today that also marks World Obesity Day.
The annual initiative of RAK Hospital that aims to combat the obesity pandemic saw an average weightloss of 10kg per participant. In Physical category Ghazwan Abdulilah Dakak took home Dh18,000 in cash prize after losing 36kg. Dh16,000 was awarded to Hadeel Mohd Ahmed Hasan for losing 31.9kg.
The challenge was organised in three categories: Physical category had 5,655 participants, 5,289 were registered in the Virtual category, while there were nine Corporate teams also in the fray. Ferdaus Nalladaroo with a weightloss of 27kg and Alaa Elkhider with a weightloss of 31kg were announced as winners of the Virtual category. The Corporate team event was won by RAK Therm LLC.
Apart from cash prizes, the top ten achievers also won staycations at 5 star properties of Waldorf Astoria, Hilton Beach Resort and Rixos Hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, annual gym memberships from GymNation and complimentary Swiss Medical checks by RAK Hospital.
Congratulating the winners at awards ceremony held at RAK Hospital, Dr Raza Siddiqui, executive director, RAK Hospital and CEO Arabian Healthcare Group, said: “Statistically, obesity continues to be the most significant health crisis that we face globally, with UAE ranked fifth in the Global Obesity Index. It has also dramatically compounded the effects from COVID-19. At RAK Hospital we continue our fight against obesity by encouraging UAE residents to adopt healthy lifestyle choices, as a part of our CSR [corporate social responsibility] campaign is organising ‘The RAK Biggest Weight Loser Challenge’. I want to not only congratulate the winners, but also each and every participant who contested.”
“While the ‘RAK Biggest Weight Losers Challenge’ continues to be a personal journey towards good health for many, it has also become an event for the family, with family members either joining the challenge or supporting its members to lose weight, by themselves adhering to healthy dieting and daily exercise. In addition, organisations are also utilising the ‘Weight Losers Challenge’ as an opportunity to motivate their overweight employees to lose weight by competing against overweight employees in other corporates,” said Prof. Adrian Kennedy, chief wellness officer, Arabian Wellness and Lifestyle Management, the wellness division of RAK Hospital.
Commenting on the experience, Dakak, the male winner in the Physical category said: “I am grateful to the team of RAK Hospital for motivating me and keeping the enthusiasm alive by sharing weekly diet tips, exercise routines and organizing web seminars by top medical experts. This helped me develop specific and measurable goals and work towards them incrementally.”
Hadeel Mohd Ahmed Hasan, the female winner in the Physical weightloss category, said: “It was not at all easy to continue the challenge for ten weeks, but I was determined to lose weight and my family supported me incredibly.”
Overall Results:
Winners (Physical category):
1. Male: Ghazwan Abdulilah Dakak, weightloss 36kg.
2. Female: Hadeel Mohd Ahmad Hassan, weightloss 31.9kg
Winners (Virtual category):
1. Male: Ferdaus Nalladaroo, weightloss 27kg
2. Female: Alaa Elkhider, weightloss 31kg
Winners (Percentage of weight loss category):
1. Male: Asif Rahamtulla Shaikh, weightloss 31.7%
2. Female: Jilsheena Palakka Valappilinattingal, weightloss 25.4%
Winners (Top-10 weight losers with a weight loss of over 25kg):
1. Nour Allah Yousef Tahan
2. Muhammad Antash Ali
3. Thani Mohamed Alghafry
4. Mahmoud Ibrahem
5. Joshua David Fisher
6. Noha Metwally Ali Allam
7. Gary Alan Kleinfeldt
8. Salem Zaki Allaithy
9. Hesham Abdelmonem Hassan
10. Salman Musthafa
Corporate Team Winner: RAK Therm LLC.
