In a bid to tackle rising obesity rates, a community centre in eastern China has launched an unusual weight loss programme, where participants can trade their lost fat for beef. The programme, dubbed ‘Trade Fat for Beef’, has seen over 1,000 people sign up since its inception in March, with thousands more turned away due to not meeting local community residence requirements.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a third of Chinese adults were overweight in 2022, and around 8.3 percent were obese. The number of obese people in China has tripled between 2004 and 2018, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
How the Programme Works
Participants in the programme are weighed once in March, and will return in January 2027 for a second and final weigh-in. For every half kilogram they lose, they will receive the same weight in boneless beef, or 1.5 kilograms of beef on the bone. The total amount of free meat available is capped at 10 kilograms.
Organisers say the programme is an added bonus for those who are already keen to lose weight. ‘Even without the beef, I wanted to lose weight for my health,’ said Shu Fangqiang, a participant in the programme, whose body mass index (BMI) of 30 is classified as obese.
Other Weight Loss Initiatives in China
In the southwestern province of Yunnan, slimmers can take part in the ‘Flab for Potatoes’ programme, where they can upgrade to chicken if they shrink their waistlines considerably. Countrywide, popular supermarket chain Yonghui has invited customers to register their losses over 10 days by weighing themselves in-store, and can then trade every 1.5 kilograms lost for half a kilogram of beef, crayfish or kiwi.
As of 2021, there were 402 million overweight or obese adults over 25 in China, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal. The study attributed the problem to rapid urbanisation and a shift toward processed, high-sugar and high-fat foods, as well as increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
- Over 1,000 people have signed up for the ‘Trade Fat for Beef’ programme
- The programme aims to tackle rising obesity rates in China
- Participants can trade their lost fat for beef, with a total cap of 10 kilograms
