Going to weight-reducing camp is a costly test of participants' will power.	A chubby boy does his physical jerks.	A brave client tries the latest weight-reducing therapy -- burning ethyl alcohol to remove fat.

The Bodyworks 42-day slimming camp costs a cool RMB 14,800 per person, but 2,000 people nevertheless participated this year.

The camp run by Bodyworks and sponsored by CCTV-5 has been a huge success. The idea originated in 2001, when CCTV-5 launched a program following certain individuals' efforts to lose weight. It was in 2002 that Bodyworks began to cooperate with CCTV-5, and since then it has run more than 30 slimming camps attended by almost 20,000 people, many of whom went as a last resort.

Camp participants are of all ages, from diverse walks of life and not necessarily from the high-income bracket. Wang Yousong started as a camp coach and is now one of its managers. He says that the youngest camper is six years old and that the oldest is 55. During summer vacation, many students also join the camp.

Some participants have complained about the camp because as soon as their 42 days are over, their weight piles back on. Wang Yousong explains, “Our camp teaches health concepts and habits. If slimmers should revert to their normal lifestyle after the 42-day course, then their weight will return to the level it was before they came." But Bodyworks follow-up service indicates that 70 percent of participants maintain their weight loss after leaving the camp.

“Many health clubs attempt to copy the Bodyworks mode, but this is not as easy as it might seem," says Wang Yousong. "The slimming camp is a well-designed package. For instance, the reason why one session lasts 42 days connects with the principle of cognitive psychology. We have, furthermore, introduced the concept of sports medicine.”

All camp participants must have a thorough, 100-item physical examination at the Bodyworks center at the Beijing Lido Plaza. Group divisions and training programs are operated on this basis.

An 8-year-old boy from Northeast China, weighing in at 143 kilograms,participated in five sessions of the training camp. He reduced his weight by 35 kilograms, at a cost of RMB 70,000. His parents believe that his weight loss makes the money they spent on the camp worthwhile. China has a large potential slimming market. It first emerged in the mid-1980s, and entered a period of rapid development in the 1990s. A market survey indicates that the sales volume of weight-reduction products in 2004 amounted to RMB 10 billion, and that this figure will jump to RMB 60 billion in 2010. As the average mark-up on weight-reducing products is 47 percent, more than 2,000 Chinese enterprises have joined in the slimming-product market competition.

What and What Not to Do

“In China, people who need to lose weight make no effort, and those that have no such need are desperate to reduce. In short, women do, and men do not slim,” says Huang Mingda, executive director of the science and technology cooperation center under the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and secretary-general of the International Obesity Union.

In China, those keenest on slimming are singles under the age of 25, who take a lot of weight-reducing medicine in an effort to reduce rapidly. The middle-aged, on the other hand, constitute the most overweight age group that makes the least effort to slim.

Wang Limei, aged 24, is a white-collar company employee. She is 160 centimeters tall and weighs 55 kilograms which, according to the BMI standards issued by the WHO, is normal for her height. But Wang thinks of herself as overweight. Some of the fashion models she reads about in glossy magazines are 180 centimeters tall and weigh only 50 kilograms, and China's latest star Zhang Ziyi is 164 centimeters tall and weighs just 42 kilograms. Wang Limei has accordingly altered her calculations as regards the ideal weight for height to make them fit the same frame of reference as these sylph-like stars, and often surfs the Internet searching forthe most effective weight-reducing methods.

Professor Huang Mingda says that many Chinese people's efforts to slim are for superficial reasons. They want to reduce their weight less for their health than for appearances' sake. One social survey endorsed Prof Huang's viewpoint. Only 24 percent of respondents dieted for reasons of health, and 46 percent did not seek advice from doctors before embarking on drastic changes of diet. Many chose weight-reducing methods and products in a quite arbitrary fashion, switching from one to another if there was no instantaneous effect. About 10 percent were indifferent to the ingredients and intended function of weight-reducing products, and had no memory of the brand names of products they had used. Nearly 50 percent of respondents had not considered reducing their weight through physical exercise or changing their dietetic structure.

This desire for an instant effect by aspirant slimmers, paired with the profit-seeking propensities of the fitness business has created a “quick-slimming” syndrome whose side effects are at best malnutrition and at worst irreversible harm to physical health. Many women have suffered early menopause and sterility due to unscientific weight-reducing methods.

A Job for Traditional Chinese Medicine

Most products on the Chinese weight-reducing market are traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as the few relevant Western medicines are available by prescription only. Western medicine has three approaches to slimming. One is that of a central nerve depressant, which can cause anorexia. Another is that of fat-decomposing drugs, which are more effective and safer, but liable to cause dependence. The third remedy is cosmetic surgery for obesity sufferers, such as liposuction, a procedure that can help sculpt the body by removing unwanted fat from specific areas such as the abdomen, hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, upper arms, chin, cheeks and neck.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, obesity is a disease arising from indigestion, and its source is “phlegm-dampness,” or a metabolic "jam." In traditional Chinese society obesity was not common, but traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture, herbal medicines and dietetic therapy, is nonetheless effective in treating it. Professor Huang Mingda says that TCM emphasizes the “organic whole” of the human body, and its concepts of respecting life and pursuing inner health concur with those of Western medicine. There are many overseas proponents of 5,000 year-old TCM therapy, whether for weight-reduction or simply all-round health. In July 2006, China published the Development Plan of Internationalization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the aim of promoting traditional Chinese medicine worldwide. Professor Huang is part of the expertise involved in the strategy. He says that weight-reduction provides a good opportunity for the internationalization of TCM, whose weight-reducing therapy is green and natural, and which effects comprehensive adjustments in individual cases by combining dietetic and physical exercise therapies.

Professor Huang says that TCM therapy is a slow process of readjusting the human metabolism, and that it only works after taking medicine for two to three months. This is unacceptable to the many people that want a perceptible day-by-day weight loss. Certain unlawful pharmaceutical firms add prohibited components to their weight-loss products in order to satisfy the psychological need for instant results. Most advertised TCM weight-reducing drugs that guarantee rapid results, however, contain prohibited components. This is why the State Administration for Industry and Commerce banned TV advertisements for weight-reducing products nationwide in the latter half of 2006. It is hard to maintain a slim figure through medication, and gaining weight after stopping medication is unavoidable, since it worsens the metabolic disorder, resulting in the failure of the slimming efforts.

Professor Huang holds that maintaining a healthy regime of diet and exercise is the best way to maintain weight loss. Once such habits are formed, the resulting benefits are life long. Professor Huang recommends meals with a 2:1 vegetable/meat ratio; drinking Pu'er tea instead of carbonated soft drinks, and eating small, frequent meals. He suggests the simple, easy “eating air” weight-reducing method: Ten minutes before a meal, take a dozen or so breaths from the diaphragm to diminish the appetite. Profesor Huang says that perseverance is essential in the pursuit of this particular method, and that perseverance is indeed at the root of successful and sustained weight loss.