Flab for beef campaign in East China city draws over 2,700 challengers

(ECNS) -- A novel weight-loss campaign offering beef as a reward has attracted more than 2,700 challengers in Wuxi City, east China's Jiangsu Province, as of Thursday, media reported.

The challenge, launched on Monday by Shanbei Subdistrict in Liangxi District, is open to overweight individuals with social insurance registered in the area. Eligible participants must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23 or higher, or a waistline exceeding 80 centimeters for women and 90 centimeters for men.

Under the rules, participants can exchange weight loss for beef and other ingredients — for example, half a kilogram of weight loss can be swapped for an equal amount of beef or 1.5 kg of beef bones. The more weight participants lose, the more beef they can claim, with a cap of 10 kg per person.

The initiative runs from March 20 through December this year.

The campaign has drawn far more interest than expected, with sign-ups surging since registration opened. A subdistrict official confirmed that despite the overwhelming response, the reward mechanism will be implemented as originally planned.

(By Zhang Dongfang)