Is it true that the losing weight inhabitants of Dubai receive 1 g of gold for every kilogram discarded?

On the Internet, publications are widespread about an unusual initiative existing in the UAE to support a healthy lifestyle. We checked whether it actually acts.

Most of the materials on the distribution of gold for the discarded kilograms appeared in 2013. From the Russian media about the initiative of the Dubai authorities, in particular, "RIA Novosti" Lenta.ru, "Russian newspaper" And "Moscow Komsomolets". Nevertheless, in November 2021, the Fakrum portal Published Such an “interesting fact”: “Since 2013, first, within the framework of the state program, and then thanks to private initiatives, citizens of Dubai, trying to lose weight, 1 g of gold for each kilogram dropped.” Thus, Fakrum claims that the initiative has been implemented continuously over the past eight years.

In the summer of 2013, the municipality of Dubai really Launched The program "Your weight in gold." Together with Dubai Multi Commodities Center and Dubai Gold & Jewelry Group, local authorities organized an open competition, for participation in which any resident of the city could register. The main conditions set forth on the Dubai municipality website were: they read:

• The competition continues from July 19 to August 16, 2013;
• The weight of each participant is measured during registration and at the end of the program;
• The participant cannot use “unhealthy methods of weight loss”;
• The minimum weight that needs to be reset to receive a prize of 2 g of gold is 2 kg;
• Among the three participants, a gold coin worth 20,000 dirhams ($ 5400) will be played with the best result.

After the success of the competition for the next year Dubai organized A similar competition called “Your Child in Gold” - it could be involved in it not only individually, but also with their children under the age of 14 (in this case, a reward for the discarded kilograms was doubled). The program was held from 15 to July 24, 2014.

At the same time, judging by the Internet Archive Database, the sites of both programs became inaccessible shortly after the end of the relevant programs. None of the two announcements said that such competitions would become constant. Moreover, in both cases, it was emphasized that the initiatives were specially implemented precisely during the Ramadan's Holy month: “This is the most suitable time to launch such initiatives, reminding us of the benefits that the loss of excess weight brings health, and inspire us to more serious steps that change our wrong lifestyle.”

The later competitions managed to find two publications. In 2015, one Indian media Wrote On the results of the “competition” of 2015, whose winner dropped 32 kg and received 32 g of gold as a prize (about $ 1200). In 2018, Time Out Dubai reported About a similar program organized in the shopping center Al Ghurair, in this case, only the winner received the precious prize.

Thus, the gold issuing program in exchange for discarded kilograms never worked in Dubai in constant mode - this was a number of competitions that lasted for several weeks. At the same time, it is reliably known about two contests organized by local authorities - they took place in 2013 and 2014. Later private initiatives did not attract the attention of large media and, judging by publications in non -authoritative media, were rare and also occupied a limited period of time.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. BBC. Dubai Offers Gold in Return for Weight Loss
2. CNN. Dubai Unveils Golden Reason to Lose Weight
3. Time. Dubai's kids Now Worth Their Weight (Loss) In Gold