Afu Urges Scientific Weight Loss to Drop 50M Catties; Experts: Commitment Crucial, AI Offers Aid

"The nation is telling you to lose weight!" Don't mistake this for just online mockery.

Data show that currently, 34.3% of adults in our country are overweight and 16.4% are obese, meaning over half of adults have a weight warning. To address this, the National Health Commission and 16 other departments launched the "Weight Management Year" initiative in 2024, which concludes this year.

In response, on June 22, Ant Forest, the nation's largest health AI app, launched the "Scientific Weight Loss of 100 Million Catties" health campaign to help users manage their weight scientifically and protect their health.

How Ant Forest Plans to Lose 100 Million Catties

First, offer smart hardware subsidies. Many households still lack body fat scales, so Ant Forest will buy them in bulk and supply them to users at "floor prices." Understanding body fat percentage, muscle mass, and other metrics is essential for scientific weight management.

Second, enhance AI features to serve as an "AI personal trainer." Once linked to smart devices, the AI provides personalized diet and exercise suggestions based on weight, body fat percentage, and muscle mass, enabling users to manage their weight and body composition scientifically.

Third, host healthy challenge competitions with engaging incentive mechanisms to help users move past their "three-minute enthusiasm."

Figure: Ant Forest launches the "Scientific Weight Loss of 100 Million Catties" health campaign

When the news broke, netizens couldn't contain their excitement: "After years of being overweight, someone is finally holding me accountable!" "If you don't lose weight in June, you'll regret it in July. This campaign couldn't have come at a better time!"

To meet this "100 million catties" KPI, Ant Forest also gathered tips from across the internet. Netizens' creativity knew no bounds, with some even suggesting "lose one jin of fat, get one jin of lean meat." Netizens exclaimed: "I nearly died laughing at the comments."

With AI, Weight Loss No Longer Has to Be a Solo Endeavor

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for more than 200 chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Studies show that for individuals with obesity, losing 5% to 10% of their body weight can significantly lower the risk of various chronic diseases.

Chen Wei, a senior physician in the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, noted that scientific weight loss is challenging. "Users know their weight but often lack awareness of their body fat percentage, muscle mass, or visceral fat levels, leading to misguided or ineffective weight loss efforts. Moreover, most people don't have access to professional personal trainers. Yet, increasingly sophisticated health AI can bridge this gap, helping users understand their physical condition and create science-based weight loss plans."

Figure: Ant Forest offers personalized diet and exercise recommendations

The "Scientific Weight Loss of 100 Million Catties" campaign by Ant Forest is set to officially launch at the end of June, when users across the country can log into the Ant Forest app to join the campaign.