A beauty influencer in China who weighs just 77 lbs (35kg) and has a range of related health issues has trended on mainland social media after she sought online advice on gaining weight for her job.
A video of the woman, called Xiaoye, from Hunan province in central China, which showed her eating frequently throughout the day and into the evening accompanied by a voice-over from one of her friends went viral on social media on the weekend, Star Video reported.
Xiaoye has allegedly never weighed more than 40kg, and as a result, she suffers from various health conditions including hypoglycaemia and a weak immune system.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Xiaoye’s friend said she was trying to gain weight quickly in a short time after her employer told her that she was too thin for her job as a beauty blogger.
“She eats at least five or six main meals daily,” the friend told Star Video.
In the viral video, Xiaoye is seen eating noodles, meat, and junk food including potato chips and biscuits which she has stuffed into a drawer. Her friend explained that the food was kept nearby to make sure she had things to eat “anytime and anywhere”.
The video later shows her falling asleep wearing pyjamas in bed while eating bread.
“Her belly bulges already, and she vomits when she sees lollies,” the friend said.
After a few days of heavy binge-eating, Xiaoye stepped on the scales and found that her weight had only increased to 36.7kg.
The friend said that the eating regime bothered Xiaoye as she suffered frequent diarrhoea after she began the diet and she often felt very cold and very uncomfortable.
In desperation, Xiaoye and her friend turned to the internet to ask for advice from the public.
“Xiaoye doesn’t want to look like a human skeleton in front of the camera, so I really want to help her find out whether there is any practical way for her to gain weight,” the friend said in an online post.
Hong Kong family doctor Amy Wang warned that Xiaoye may have underlying physical or mental health issues contributing to her low weight and that excessive eating was unhealthy and could be dangerous.
“First of all, we need to identify whether the girl has any underlying medical problems. For example, having thyroid problems may also lead to weight loss. If she has no underlying medical conditions and she has been skinny and well all along, there isn’t a reason to eat so excessively,” Wang said.
“Eating excessively, especially oily junk food will have an impact on her health. Not only will she not gain weight healthily, but she may develop other medical conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
“I recommend that she can seek help from a doctor to undergo a formal health assessment and gain weight healthily under the guidance of a professional nutritionist or dietitian,” Wang added.
Xiaoye’s story has generated significant interest on mainland social media, and at the time of writing, there had been nearly 10 million views of the binge-eating video.
One person commented: “If possible, I would like to give her my 5kg.”
Another said: “Oh, poor girl! Eating too much will make her ill.”
A third commenter wrote: “Being too skinny is neither pretty nor healthy.”
“When looking at her, I feel good about being fat,” another said.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Quirky China: kitten gifts kind woman a fish, couple celebrate birthday next to crashed car, bored boy gives grapes personality
- ‘Scrub the toilet’: woman in China hired as media specialist forced to clean bathroom on first day – company faces online backlash
- ‘Is it performance art?’: woman wraps herself in huge plastic bag to bypass subway rules to eat a banana, sparking conversation in China
- ‘A window into perspective’- How three European missionaries viewed the fall of the Ming empire and the rise of the Qing dynasty
- ‘It’s not a scam’: Hong Kong university offers paid Netflix viewing - all in the name of science
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2022.
