4,000 register for Dubai's ‘Your Child in Gold’ campaign

Dubai Municipality has said 4,000 people have already registered for the weight loss contest ‘Your Child in Gold’.

The health awareness initiative rewards participants with gold according the amount of weight they lose.

Walid Al Shaibani, coordinator of the campaign, said they expect a total of 15,000 participants to take part in the scheme, which is primarily aimed at encouraging children and families to participate and educating them on how to address the obesity issue caused bad life style choices such as addiction to TV, internet and other electronic devices.

Last year total of 9,666 people registered for ‘Your Weight in Gold’ initiative and 2,648 participants won the gold according to the weight loss. The top winner was 28 year-old Syrian expat Ahmad Al Shaikh, who lost 26 kg.

Al Shaibani said there is an issue with obesity in the UAE, with a large amount spent on treating diabetes-related problems.

“The UAE is one of the highest countries in the proportion of obesity where the increased weight reaches 67 percent among men and 72 percent among women according to WHO.

“The UAE is also ranked 15th globally where 18.98 percent are suffering from diabetes according to World Diabetes Union 2013. The nation has spent so far around 6 billion dollars for the treatment for diabetes related problems,” he said.

He urged public to register online through the website www.thedmgold.com and take a printout of the form to avoid unnecessary delays in the registration process.