This University Requires Students to Lose Weight as Part of Course Marks

Many people have different motivations to work out. Some want to make a better change for their health, others just want to look better, while a handful may do it for someone else instead of themselves.

Whatever the reason may be, we’ve probably never heard of, “I lost weight because I had to do it to get good grades in university”.

Well, these Chinese students are doing exactly that because they HAVE to lose weight in order to pass their classes. Whoa. 

source: the time

According to South China Morning Post, the students at Nanjing Agriculture University in Jiangsu Province, China will get full marks if they are able to reduce their body weight by 7 per cent.

If they successfully do so, they will receive full marks in that criteria. Their grade consists of 60 per cent weight loss and 40 per cent on other aspects of the course.

The students are encouraged to exercise and maintain a healthy diet to achieve the ideal body weight. Many of the obese students told their lecturer, Zhou Quanfu, that they didn’t bother to work out before because they found it to be pointless.

source: the star

The lecturer told the press,

“So, to motivate them, we have designed the course to have their weight loss directly linked to their marks.”

This course isn’t just for anyone either. Those who wish to join this course must have more than 30 per cent body fat or a body mass index (BMI) that exceeds 28, which classifies someone as obese.

The routine includes running on treadmills and recording the food intake. Besides that, the students even have to send their progress pictures to a group chat on WeChat and receive feedback from nutritionists.

One student reportedly lost a total of 25.5kg after his weight dropped from 110kg to 84.5kg! Not bad! 

source: the star

Apparently, Quanfu came up with this concept about 5 years ago when he learnt that 12.95 per cent of the students in the institute were overweight.

The major issue is that, Peking University’s School of Public Health has estimated that 28 per cent of children in China between the age of 7 and 18 will be classified as obese by the year 2030.

That’s roughly 50 million children!

There really is no better way to shed those kilos other than proper dieting and adequate exercise.

Would you join this university as a motivation to lose weight on top of pursuing your degree? 

Also read: Maid Graduates with Diploma Thanks to Kind Employers Who Helped Finance Her Studies