Serious warning over viral food challenges as 24-year-old woman dies during livestream
Topics: Food and Drink, Health, World News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Jam Press/PASIEKA/Getty Images
Topics: Food and Drink, Health, World News
The tragic death of a social media star who took part in an 'extreme eating' challenge has prompted several health experts to issue warnings about the risks involved with dangerous online trends.
Earlier this month, 24-year-old content creator Pan Xiaoting passed away in the midst of a livestream which saw her consuming masses of food.
The Chinese social media star had accumulated hundreds of thousands of online followers on both TikTok and YouTube prior to her heartbreaking death on 14 July, which occurred while she was filming live content.
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Her unique content primarily centred on 'mukbang', a trend which sees users consuming various quantities of audibly-satisfying food while interacting with the audience.
Earlier this month, however - after continuing to upload content, despite previously suffering gastric bleeding - Xiaoting passed away whilst recording live content.
A subsequent autopsy determined that the internet favourite's stomach was filled with undigested food at the time of her death, as reported by the Maeil Business Newspaper.
Her abdomen was also found to be severely deformed.
Xiaoting isn't the only social media user to have died whilst embarking on culinary-based social media challenges.
Just last year, much-loved TikTok star Taylor LeJeune - known for his username @waffler69 - suffered a fatal heart attack after consuming obscure and plentiful meals for clicks.
Prior to his death, LeJeune regularly posted videos of himself consuming unconventional foods, including canned cheeseburgers, reindeer meat, baby food, and long-expired products, an example being ham canned from the 1960s.
As a result, medics are - now more than ever - warning social media users about the risks involved with engaging with questionable culinary content, one being bariatric surgeon Dr Gabriela Rodríguez Ruiz.
Previously speaking to Express.co.uk, the apparent rise of 'mukbangs', she said the health consequences could be devastating.
"Eating large amounts of food on camera may encourage viewers to follow suit, leading to overconsumption and unhealthy diets," Dr Rodríguez Ruiz told the outlet.
"This could contribute to a higher risk of obesity, heart problems, and diabetes. The trend may also glamorize unhealthy eating habits, which can be very dangerous - especially if the streamer has a young or vulnerable audience that is susceptible to influence."
Speaking to the same publication, health advisor Dr Rosmy Barrios, from Health Reporter couldn't agree more with Dr Rodríguez Ruiz.
"The first concern is that people are normalizing binge eating, which no healthcare professionals advocate," Dr Barrios said.
"Plus, it’s even more challenging for doctors to educate people on what’s right because they don’t value our advice.
"Back in October 2022, I received a telemedicine appointment from a teenage girl on how she could increase her diet drastically.
"Upon further discussion, I realized that she wanted to create a YouTube channel and even shared a few mukbang channels with me. I instantly warned her of the health risks of excessive eating but she didn’t seem to care and only wanted a way to eat more.
"As you can see, how deeply people can be influenced by the internet and this poses a big challenge to doctors. Misinformation is on the rise, which shouldn’t be the case at all."