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Twenty grams of gold - what you could get for losing 44lbs. Gold via Shutterstock
weight in gold

The Dubai diet: Lose weight, get paid gold. Simple.

Where can we sign up?

To GIVE NEW meaning to the phrase ‘worth your weight in gold’, Dubai has come up an innovative way of tackling the country’s obesity crisis.

Lose weight and get paid in gold. It’s that easy. Where do we sign up?

Municipal officials will give a gram of gold — worth about €34 at current prices — for each kilogram (2.2 pounds) of weight lost in a 30-day challenge. The minimum drop is two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, to cash in.

Dubai official Hussain Lootah said there is no limit on the payout for the golden losers.

The plan is the latest attempt to encourage healthier lifestyles in the United Arab Emirates. Across the Gulf Arab states, authorities have raised alarms about rising obesity from increasing fast-food diets and lack of exercise.

Read: New Jersey governor Chris Christie reveals he had gastric band surgery>
More: ‘She’s a totally different child’: Mother hails success of now suspended obesity service>

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