A social media influencer, Cuihua, was making an effort to lose more than half her body weight in order to inspire her followers but she ended up killing herself. She was attending an intense weight-loss bootcamp in China.
She was 21 years old at the time of her death. Government issued a statement warning citizen over pressure for women to lose weight in the name of beauty standards laid out by social media.
According to Chinese media, the social influencer died on June 10. This death comes in the wake of a Chinese man who died after livestreaming himself drinking several bottles of strong alcohol.
The social media influencer was documenting her weight loss journey to tens of thousands of followers on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok). He objective was to encourage her followers to equally lose weight in the fight against obesity.
In several videos she would be seen engaging in several intensive training exercises and she had revealed that she weight 156 kilograms. She was attempting to shed off 100 kg.
She was seen in videos running, weight lifting and they were equally shared on social media. The news of her death was shared widely on social media.
Cuihua had joined several weight-loss camps in a number of cities in an effort to attain her goal and as a result lost 27 kilograms in just two months leading to her death.
He final weight-loss camp was in Shaanxi province just two days before she died. In order to attract clients the camp in question advertised “nutritious meals, rest and healthy exercise,” e According to media reports, the social media influencer had chosen to limit her diet while participating in intense exercise.
Most videos and pictures have been deleted from her account since she died. State media reports that her family has received “compensation” from the weight loss camp in Shaanxi but more information has not been released.
Local authorities are investigating the death and to determine whether the weight loss camp was conducting excessive training.
Experts of sports nutrition have warned that even healthy practices such as increasing levels of exercises and dieting can cause harm when taken to the extremes. It can cause mental health problems and also lead to serious medical complications which affects the brain, kidneys, brain and the heart.
According to Lancet, it is estimated that more than half of Chinese adults are either obese or overweight. The obesity rate is expected to increase further in the coming years.
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