Health Promotion Board Ramps Up Efforts To Combat Singapore's Obesity Issue With New Season Of Million Kg Challenge

Singapore, 25 October 2014 – As part of its on-going push to address obesity, a key public health challenge in Singapore, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) today launches the second season of its Million kg Challenge. The event marks the finale of a month-long National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign to raise awareness among Singaporeans of the healthy living options available for the adoption of healthier lifestyles. Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong was the Guest of Honour at the Million kg Challenge launch held at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub.

The top ten winners of season 1 of the Challenge were also unveiled at the event. Season 1 was launched in March 2014 as Singapore’s first ever national-level weight management initiative. Since then, there have been over 80,000 sign ups and some 42,000 participants pledging to lose weight.

Obesity is a key public health challenge in Singapore

The Million kg Challenge marks an expansion of HPB’s efforts to help Singaporeans win the battle of the bulge by targeting those who are overweight and at risk of becoming obese.

The Ministry of Health’s 2010 National Health Survey, which is published every six years, showed that 11 per cent of Singaporean adults aged between 18 to 69 years were obese compared to 7 per cent in 2004.

The Survey showed that 1.7 million Singaporeans with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23 or greater are vulnerable to developing obesity1-related diseases such as diabetes and heart diseases. It also found that 1 million Singaporeans with BMI 23 or greater are either already pre-diabetic or suffer at least one or more chronic conditions such as diabetes. Scientific studies have shown that a 5-10 percent reduction in body weight in overweight and obese individuals will yield improvements in Cardiovascular Disease risk factors.2

Million kg Challenge – Season 2

Building on season 1 of the Challenge, season 2 will see participation made easier with more road shows to encourage sign ups and weigh-in kiosks throughout the island so that participants can remain aware of their weight status and progress in their weight management efforts. Starting January 2015, there will be more than 80 weigh-in kiosks island-wide to increase the convenience of regular weigh-ins. This includes a partnership with Guardian Pharmacy for sign-ups and weigh- ins at all its outlets.

Recognising that social support and peer motivation can be powerful enablers, new elements have also been introduced to spur participants on in the three Challenge participation categories – Individual, Group and Company. In a new Group category, participants will be able to form teams of three or four to take on the Challenge together and in the individual category there will be a buddy element where participants can call on friends to support them in their weight management journey.

The Challenge also extends to the company level where organisations can ride on the Challenge to run similar types of activities within their own company. This setting up of internal challenges allows colleagues to come together to support and motivate each other to maintain a healthy weight.

All participants will be further encouraged in their weight loss journey through eDMs and SMS alerts customised according to their progress. In addition, the Challenge will be made more engaging with a new game format where there will be three stages to complete and prizes awarded at each stage of successful completion.

Mr Zee Yoong Kang, Chief Executive of HPB, said, “Maintaining a healthy weight and losing weight requires concerted effort and is an on-going process. The Million kg Challenge encourages Singapore residents to take a step forward in managing their weight by making weight loss resources available to the wider population.”

Mr Zee added, “The “Million kg Challenge” tagline is a call to action and provides a long-term aspirational goal to rally around. It enables us to build a broader social awareness and movement around the issue of obesity. Season one has drawn the public eye to the importance of weight management. With the launch of season two, we are leveraging our experience in the first season to provide even greater support and positive reinforcement to motivate sign ups and active participation.”

The Million kg Challenge is open to Singapore residents between the ages of 18 to 64 years whose BMI ranges from 18.5 to 37.4, where participants of BMI 23 to 37.4 can aim to achieve a healthy weight and those of BMI 18.5 to 22.9 can aim to maintain their weight.

From 25 October 2014, registration to participate in the Challenge will be open at road shows across Singapore and at the Challenge portal.

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Issued by Health Promotion Board

Media Release

For more information on the article above, refer to Media Release [PDF, 286.7 KB].