Yang Chi'ao takes her place next to gym equipment and waits to be called by an instructor at a weight-loss camp in China, where over half of adults are overweight. Boasting strict daily exercise regimens, mandatory trips to the scale and rigid surveillance to guard against snacking, the facilities have popped up across China as it grapples with a growing obesity crisis. They have also sparked controversy -- last year an influencer died while attending a facility in northern China as part of efforts to shed more than 100 kilograms, local media said.
Yang, 23, quit her teaching job earlier this year and signed up for a weight-loss camp on the outskirts of southwestern megacity Chengdu, and since then has followed a rigorous regime of diet and exercise. She was one of around 60 slimmers who turned out early to train, a large poster looming overhead extolling their goal: "Become thin! Become beautiful! Become refined!" Among the activities at the Chengdu camp are long brisk walks -- with instructors keeping an eye on participants tempted to stop for snacks at roadside carts. "There will definitely be people who secretly want to buy food," Yang told AFP, walking with a steady stride.
"I've had the idea but never succeeded because the coaches keep following me." Yang said she had lost nearly 30 kilograms (66 pounds) since arriving in July at 114 kg. And while some fellow participants struggled with the 10-kilometre hike, she said her "stamina has probably improved".
"I might have f.
