Ant Afu's weight-loss campaign sees holiday setback as 600,000 users gain 1 million jin

The campaign page on the Ant Afu app showed 'national weight gain yesterday' for four consecutive days from Oct 4 to Oct 7. On Oct 7, it showed a single-day net national gain of 34,700 jin, which users jokingly called a 'setback' for the weight-loss effort.

On social platforms, some users responded to the figures. 'On the return trip to work, my mood is heavy and my body is plump,' one user wrote. Another posted a photo of a scale with the caption: 'Afu witnessed my holiday's spicy and fragrant food; I will turn over a new leaf afterward.' A third user reminded Afu that many people were still on the way back and had not weighed themselves, so a bigger 'setback' could still lie ahead.

Ms. Li from Henan told reporters she had joined Afu's 21-day weight-loss check-in program and traveled to Guangdong during the holiday, returning on Oct 5. She had lost 2 jin before the trip, but after weighing herself at home, her weight-loss contribution became -2 jin. 'I dragged down netizens nationwide,' she said. 'Guangdong morning tea is really hard to resist.'

Among the holiday weight gainers, about 270,000 gained 1 to 3 jin, a range most users kept under control. About 90,000 gained 3 to 6 jin, passing the folk benchmark of 'three jin at every festival,' and more than 10,000 gained over 6 jin. Some users joked that it was not three jin but three kilograms. By region, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan ranked as the top five provinces for weight gain. Some users said a province's status as a food destination could be seen from the jin gained. At the same time, 650,000 Ant Afu users lost weight during the holiday, with cumulative loss exceeding 1 million jin.

Holiday weight gain has been examined in research. Professor Yu Xiaohua and colleagues in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at the University of Göttingen published a 2020 study in Applied Economics Letters using China Health and Nutrition Survey data to examine the weight-gain effect of China's National Day holiday. The results showed Chinese adults gained an average of 1.56 kilograms, about 3 jin, during the seven-day National Day holiday.

Han Xiaodong, a weight-loss science blogger and deputy director of general surgery at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, said in an interview that weight gain during holidays is closely related to diet, exercise and sleep. Holiday gatherings and eating out increase intake of high-sugar, high-oil and high-salt foods, while reduced exercise and disrupted sleep patterns also contribute to weight gain. After the holiday, weight can be recovered through diet control and exercise, he said.

Ant Afu advised that much of the post-holiday rise on the scale is not fat accumulation but water retention, and weight usually falls back naturally within 3 to 5 days. It suggested users not resort to fasting or extreme dieting but restore a normal eating rhythm, and use Afu's AI photo diet management to track daily total calorie intake and nutritional balance. It also recommended weighing at a fixed time each day, such as on an empty stomach in the morning, and paying attention to body fat rate, visceral fat and other indicators for a more accurate and scientific view of weight trends.

Ant Afu launched the 'Scientifically Lose 100 Million Jin' campaign in late June. Despite the holiday setback, the cumulative weight loss recorded by users nationwide this year remained 6.24 million jin as of the report.