WUXI, April 11 -- In a community centre in eastern China, Shu Fangqiang shrugged off his jacket and stepped onto a scale, one of hundreds of locals signing up for an unusual weight loss programme-"Trade Fat for Beef".

The rules are straightforward: for every half kilogram he loses, Shu will receive the same weight in boneless beef, or 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of beef on the bone.

The programme is one of many springing up across China, backed by local authorities anxious to tackle rising obesity rates, which are fast becoming a pressing public health issue.

Participants who are already keen to lose weight say the initiative is a bonus.

"Even without the beef, I wanted to lose weight for my health," said Shu, whose body mass index (BM...