Mexico City - In preparation of World Heath Day (April 7) the Mexican Health Ministry kicked off on Wednesday a weight reducing campaign to motivate its public-sector workers to "lose 500 tons" of excess weight, state news agency Notimex reported.

If successful, the nationwide campaign, which targets some 40,000 to 50,000 health-sector workers at the state and the federal level, could garner Mexico a Guinness World Record, Ernesto Monroy Yurrieta from the Health Ministry told reporters.

"The objective is for employees who are overweight or obese, with a body mass index (BMI) higher than 25kg/m2, to sign up for the challenge to receive consulting for a better diet, hydration and physical activity, and in this way achieve a healthy weight," the news agency said.

The BMI is calculated by taking the weight and dividing it by the square of height. A BMI between 18.5 and 25 is considered healthy.

As lifestyles change and people consume higher-calorie foods, more and more Mexican children have become overweight or obese, Monroy said. "In children aged zero to five, 9.7 percent are overweight or obese. In children aged five to 11, it's 34.4 percent."

Those rates increase with age, said Monroy, adding that 35 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are overweight or obese, while the rate is as high as 70 percent for adults.