Grim gym

Obesity now poses a more serious health risk to offshore oil platform workers, and it could soon cost them their jobs.

The regulatory body of the energy industry in the United Kingdom has imposed a weight limit for offshore workers to ensure their safety. According to a BBC report, the 124.7-kilogram limit for clothed workers in the North Sea was set to allow for safe helicopter evacuation from an oil rig in case of emergency.

The requirement takes effect in November 2026, giving about 2,200 affected workers time to lose weight. Those who fail to meet the limit risk losing their employment.

Meanwhile, in China, losing weight also comes with its own dangers — this time in pursuit of luxury.

A gym in Binzhou, Shandong province, is holding a “slimming challenge” that offers a 2020 Porsche Panamera worth 1.1 million yuan as the grand prize, the South China Morning Post reported.

The challenge requires a 10,000-yuan registration fee, which covers meals and accommodations in a fully enclosed training facility with shared rooms. Participants — 30 in all — are expected to lose a set amount of weight within three months.

However, the challenge’s target of shedding 50 kilograms in 90 days — equivalent to losing half a kilo per day — has alarmed medical professionals.

A health influencer warned that such extreme weight loss “leads to muscle loss rather than fat reduction, which can cause hormonal imbalances, hair loss, and even amenorrhea in women,” according to the SCMP.

“Losing weight at such a rapid pace can strain our organs and may even be life-threatening,” said Pu Yansong, a gastrointestinal surgeon at Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital. “Scientific weight loss should be gradual, allowing the brain, body fat, muscles and organs to adapt to the new energy balance.”

One netizen offered a grim example, saying that a challenger weighing 55 kilograms would be reduced to just 5 kilograms if they lost 50 — an obvious impossibility.

The same user pointed out that the gym owner might be the only real winner: the 30 registration fees could easily buy a new car while he keeps the existing one, since the challenge itself seems impossible to achieve.