Weight loss contest crosses 15,000 participant mark

Over 15,000 participants registered online for Dubai Municipality’s weight loss contest “Your Child in Gold”, surpassing the target of the organisers three days before the registration closes.

The corporate marketing and relations department of the municipality on Monday urged people who wish to participate to hurry up and register online and then on site, as the process closes on Thursday.

The contest gives away gold corresponding to the weight lost.

“We have already met the target of this year — to hit 15,000 participants, a 50 per cent increase from last year’s ‘Your Weight in Gold’ initiative,” said Ismail Al Banna, director of the department.

Still, the registration will continue till Thursday as there is an open budget for the initiative.

Participants are required register on www.thedmgold.com and then take a printout of the filled form to any of the five designated parks in Dubai for on-site measuring of their weight.

“We would be happy to receive maximum contestants from families with children as well as individuals as this year’s focus is on family members in order to educate and make awareness on how to lead a healthy life,” said Al Banna. “Since we aspire to be the number one in everything we do, we wish Dubai to be one of the healthiest cities in the world, and we need all our citizens and residents to be aware of our aims.

We believe that the people are the real assets of our city, so we take care of their health and welfare to build a beautiful future for our beloved city.”

He reiterated that health is more precious than gold: “We give gold only to motivate people and make them think of changing their lifestyle to be safe from many lifestyle-related diseases.”

Participants have to lose minimum 2kg to be eligible for rewards. Each individual participant will get one gramme of gold for each kilogramme lost while families will get two grammes for each kilogramme reduced if an overweight child sheds minimum two kilos.

The first prize goes to the individual who sheds the most weight in accordance with the terms and conditions.

The initiative is also aimed at introducing the walking tracks in Dubai’s different parks. Walking is an easy and economical way to stay fit and people can easily integrate it into their day-to-day life. The municipality has provided residents with safe and accessible walking tracks in both urban and rural areas.

Dubai has around 100 places to practise sport activities: Residential parks, public parks, squares, jogging tracks and beaches. In addition, every year, the civic body opens new parks and adds sports equipment and tools for the public to promote a healthy community.

The final weight of the participants will be taken during September 10-15. They will be informed via SMS where they have to go for the final weighing and when.

news@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE