Is it true that losing weight residents of Dubai receive 1 g of gold for every kilogram lost?

There are numerous publications on the Internet about an unusual initiative that exists in the UAE to support a healthy lifestyle. We checked whether it actually works.

Most of the materials dedicated to the distribution of gold for lost kilograms appeared in 2013. From the Russian media they wrote about the initiative of the Dubai authorities, in particular, “RIA Novosti", Lenta.ru, "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" And "Moskovsky Komsomolets". However, in November 2021, the Faktrum portal published this “interesting fact”: “Since 2013, first as part of a government program and then thanks to private initiatives, Dubai citizens trying to lose weight are entitled to 1 gram of gold for every kilogram lost.” Thus, Faktrum claims that the initiative has been implemented continuously over the past eight years.

In the summer of 2013, the Dubai Municipality actually launched program “Your weight in gold.” Together with the Dubai Multi Commodities Center and Dubai Gold & Jewelry Group, local authorities organized an open competition for which anyone in the city could register to participate. The basic conditions outlined on the Dubai Municipality website read:

• the competition lasts from July 19 to August 16, 2013;
• Each participant's weight is measured upon registration and at the end of the program;
• the participant cannot use “unhealthy weight loss methods”;
• the minimum weight you need to lose to receive the 2g gold prize is 2kg;
• Among the three participants with the best result, a gold coin worth 20,000 dirhams ($5,400) will be drawn.

Following the success of the competition the following year, Dubai authorities organized a similar competition called “Your Child is in Gold” - you could participate in it not only individually, but also together with your children under the age of 14 (in this case, the reward for the lost kilograms was doubled). The program took place from July 15 to July 24, 2014.

However, judging by the Internet Archive Database, the sites of both programs became unavailable shortly after the end of the respective programs. Neither of the two announcements said that such competitions would become permanent. Moreover, in both cases it was emphasized that the initiatives were implemented specifically during the fasting month of Ramadan: “This is the most opportune time to launch such initiatives, reminding us of the health benefits of losing excess weight and inspiring us to take more serious steps that change our unhealthy lifestyle.”

We were able to find two publications about later competitions. In 2015, one Indian media wrote about the results of the “competition” in 2015, the winner of which lost 32 kg and received 32 g of gold (about $1200) as a prize. In 2018 Time Out Dubai reported about a similar program organized at the Al Ghurair shopping center - in this case, only the winner received a precious prize.

Thus, the program for issuing gold in exchange for lost pounds never worked in Dubai on a permanent basis - it was a series of competitions that lasted for several weeks. At the same time, it is reliably known about two competitions organized by local authorities - they were held in 2013 and 2014. Later private initiatives did not attract the attention of major media and, judging by publications in not the most reputable media, were rare and also took 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