Taking a seat after a stroll might become rather confronting with a new Moscow plan to construct outdoor "scales benches" — seats that tell the person sitting on them how much they weigh.
Director of the city's northern Sokolniki park, Andrei Lapshin, said 20 such benches could be placed in his park by the end of the year, the Izvestia newspaper reported Friday.
In addition to displaying the person's weight, the benches will also give tips on healthy eating as well as advertising nearby fitness clubs and beauty salons.
The special seats will be funded by investors and could cost up to 50,000 rubles ($1,300) a piece, Izvestia reported, citing an analyst from the Institute of Urban Economics.
A similar trial project was launched several years ago by a fitness club in the Netherlands, where scales benches were erected at a public bus stop.
Authorities at Moscow's Fili and Taganka parks have expressed interest in the idea, the report added.
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