Chinese colleges issue fitness certificates, hold weight loss competitions to encourage weight control
Colleges across China have responded to a national advocation for weight loss by releasing weight control directions after a major new initiative announced by China’s top health authority aimed at tipping the scales back toward healthier lifestyles.
Lei Haichao, head of China’s National Health Commission (NHC), announced at a press conference on the sidelines of this year’s two sessions the new initiatives to promote mental health, weight management and healthy lifestyles nationwide. According to the guidelines for weight management released by NHC, the prevalence of overweight or obesity among Chinese adults is anticipated to rise to 70.5 percent by 2030 and the childhood overweight and obesity rate is expected to reach 31.8 percent.
In response to the initiatives, multiple colleges across China such as China Agricultural University, Hubei University and University of Science and Technology Beijing have released weight management instructions and shared successful cases of weight loss.
The University of Science and Technology Beijing shared Tuesday on its official WeChat account a successful weight loss case of a PhD candidate Chen Linyun, who successfully reduced his weight by 52 kilograms from 132 kilograms in July of 2023 to the current 80 kilograms.
According to Chen, the weight loss progress and the sports and exercises not only built up his body but also made him become more confident, optimistic and cheerful when facing all kinds of challenges in his academic path.
In Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, 92 colleges across the province will start from this year's graduation season to implement an assessment system on college students’ physical constitution. As long as the students score above 80 out of 100 in their annual physical fitness tests, they will receive a “super fit” certificate upon graduation, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday, citing Yunnan provincial education authority.
The certificate, designed by the provincial department of education and made and issued by each university, will bear the official seals of the universities and the signature stamps of the universities’ Party secretaries in order to encourage college students to take part in sports, thereby improving their physical health, according to Xinhua.
Meanwhile, some colleges have rolled out the schedules of weight loss competitions to encourage weight management among students.
Topics related to “fat loss and weight management” have been trending on social media over the past few days.
Some netizens posted on social media platforms the notice on the Fifth Weight Loss Competition of Southern University of Science and Technology
According to the notice, competitors will be weighed for the first time between March 14 and 17 and weighed the second time between May 16 and 19. The rankings will be decided by the body mass index, a calculated measure of weight relative to height.
One netizen who took the competition in the past said that he ended up gaining weight by one kilogram when he was weighed the second time.
While some netizens were more curious about what the prizes will be, others expressed concerns over students’ knowledge on weight control, noting that students’ lack of nutrition knowledge may lead to damages to their health in the process of weight loss.