Cuihua, also known by her family name Zhou, enrolled in a variety of weight-loss initiatives in several places, according to China National Radio. According to CNN, a social media influencer who aspired to inspire her followers by dropping more than half her body weight died while participating in a tough weight-loss boot camp in northwest China, sparking a debate on how to govern the influencer sector.
Videos of the young influencer running and lifting weights were widely distributed on Chinese social media following her death late last month. The death of the 21-year-old influencer, known online as Cuihua, has reignited concerns about the demands on women to conform to traditional beauty standards, prompting the state media to issue a safety warning about the hazards of weight-loss camps.
It has also raised criticism of the influencer industry, coming only weeks after a young man in the country died after live-streaming himself gulping several bottles of powerful alcohol. Cuihua has been chronicling her weight-loss journey with her tens of thousands of fans on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, in an effort to inspire others in their own battles against obesity, according to state media sources reported by CNN.
In a recent series of videos chronicling her intensive training efforts, she revealed that she was attempting to lose 100 kilograms of weight and that she weighed 156 kilograms (344 pounds). According to CNN, after her death late last month, recordings of the young influencer running and lifting weights were widely distributed on Chinese social media and even appeared on a number of state media sites.
Cuihua had attended her last weight-loss camp in Shaanxi province just two days before her death
Cuihua, also known by her family name of Zhou, had joined a number of weight-loss courses in several locations in an effort to achieve her goal and had lost more than 27 kilograms (60 pounds) in the two months before her death, according to China National Radio.
Cuihua had attended her last camp in Shaanxi province just two days before her death. Despite the fact that the camp promoted “nutritious meals, rest, and healthy exercise,” she chose to restrict her nutrition in addition to engaging in hard exercise. Photographs and videos of Cuihua training have since been removed from the account.
According to official media accounts, the influencer’s family received “compensation” from the Shaanxi weight loss camp, but the sum was not stated. According to CNN, local officials are investigating the death and if the weight loss camp employed excessive or inappropriate training methods.