China's Big Problem: The Rise of Obesity

On a Wednesday night in Beijing, the Chinese capital, in a downtown restaurant, a particular show is starting. A young woman is going to dinner alone. Well, not really, it is filmed by a team of professionals and millions of people will watch her while she eats because her name is Minnie. She has 25 years her work as a professional reader has made her a celebrity in the country this practice imported from South Korea is called mck bang the literal translation eat broadcast the principle is simple to attract the largest possible audience on the Internet she must eat astronomical amounts of eating on camera during a 1-hour broadcast Minnie eats eight bowls of rice with meat, five eggs, three ice creams and drinks about 2 liters of papaya juice.

It's a recipe for success. She has followers all over the country. 4 millions. The Chinese watch her live 10 million in a replay Minnie earns €7,000 a month her fans are often single young adults who feel lonely and lack company this young woman regularly eats alone with her friend online mukbang seems to be a popular cure for Loneliness, however, is also generating

obesity

problem

s throughout the country, especially among young people. They are the main consumers of this type of videos. In addition, it has become a trend on social networks of teenagers stuffing themselves with fast food in front of their webcam. like mini in the heart of Beijing, this production company specializes in mukbang videos here. 17 people work full time on Minnie's broadcast and it is this woman, Wang Dan, who started the whole young live food orgy, although Mini is surprisingly thin, her diet would make anyone fat in this matter, the producer. refutes the

problem

according to her mukbang broadcasts are good for public health it is difficult to believe in a country where the fight against

obesity

has become a national problem the Chinese eat more and more and get more and more fat the most populated country in the world 1.4 billion people affected by famine in the past are becoming obese 100 million of them are overweight the elderly practice Ta Chi and follow a traditional diet the new generation has opted for junk food and a sedentary lifestyle the young are the most affected 20% of boys and 10% of girls are now obese the one-child policy has led millions of families to make their only child fat is a public health problem obesity has brought with it diabetes and cardiovascular diseases the main because of the

rise

of fast food that sends calorie counts through the roof so the country has declared war on obesity everywhere fitness camps for obese youth are flourishing it is a forced diet losing weight has become fashionable the new Reality TV stars are former overweight people who have lost weight to deal with this phenomenon, the Chinese resorting to traditional medicine or much more radical surgical techniques, others have turned the problem into a business.

One of the most downloaded smartphone apps in the country is a weight loss program. Some, on the other hand, fight to finish and hope that people will be more accepted. From Beijing to guano, from Shanghai to the Yunan border, we take a deep look at a country that's doing its best to revamp a traditional restaurant in the heart of Shenzhen, southeast China. Duw is 15 years old and has been obese since he was six. His father enrolled him in a fitness camp for obese youth, takes him to the restaurant one last time before the exhausting weeks ahead.

Duw has a ferocious appetite, his father seems more concerned about his son's happiness than his health, his last moment. to indulge for a long time The next morning Duw and his father head to camp. The teenager knows exactly what awaits him. This is the second time he has sacrificed his vacation for his diet. His father paid 5,000 euros to help his son lose weight, a considerable sum even for this. The successful DW restaurant is immediately welcomed by its trainers and it all starts with a health check before setting its goals. Trainers must first determine their body fat percentage using this machine as a state-of-the-art scale, but the smiles won't last.

For a long time the coaches here are former soldiers in uniform parading upon arrival these teenagers aged 12 to 16 are put to work 2 kilometers away in the stadium they will hear the rules they will have to follow for the next two months common sense and good behavior something What these young teenagers are apparently missing is the first day and soon one of the students is taken aside he is caught laughing during instruction the punishment is immediate the tone is set this just begins the next day the students will discover the schedule they will have What to follow during your stay here: wake up at 6:00 in the morning make your bed like in the army 3 hours of sports before lunch another 3 hours in the afternoon and to top it off more discipline exercises teenagers are constantly doing something they don't have breaks every misstep is punished with additional physical exercise after a week many are losing a lot of weight but it is not easy to keep up we find duch in his room while the students do their critical evaluation this is part of the obligatory exercises the students have to write down not only their successes but also their failures, as well as extra motivation according to the coaches who will read the text again the next day only a week has passed duw suffers his first depressive episode the most anticipated moment of the day finally arrives it is 8 o'clock :00 p.m. teenagers are allowed a brief moment on their cell phone they only have one hour a day but under certain conditions they are 12 years old little jow is one of the youngest in the group as most of the participants are an only child and expect everything day when he will be able to call his mother for Fore Fore Foree missing his parents is perhaps one of the reasons for Jha's weight gain, however, at the camp the coaches cannot work on the root of the problem, only the problem per se.

The only goal is to lose the wait as quickly as possible. He has a month left and yet China not long ago looked more like this before industrialization and rural exodus. Low-calorie and low-fat foods were more widespread. We are in the province of Yunan, a rural area in the southwest with landscapes and a type of agriculture that have almost disappeared in China here there is a different vision of gastronomy a return to the source some farmers and restaurants are trying to preserve culinary traditions Chinese farmers start with local organic vegetable farmers, a rarity in China. They then ship them directly to the city's exclusive restaurants.

The best chefs buy them here. It is the real Chinese cuisine. This chef is a purist for her. The Chinese have forgotten the meaning behind what they eat. She knows the benefits of each of her recipes. Far from fatty and fried foods, the chef advocates returning to the old diet, but this has not been the norm in China for almost 30 years. The city landscape has changed. Fast food restaurants have moved everywhere and supermarkets sell many products with high saturated content. fats and sugars, however, the main problem is the unlimited supply of meat. An ingredient that was once special has now become commonplace.

The typical renewal of the eating plate. We have an appointment in Beijing with Ms. Yang, she is in charge of the national program aimed at improving the Chinese diet so its habits have changed radically due to the growth of the country's wealth, all education needs to be reviewed according to Ms. Yang , but perhaps also the dietary standards followed by a nutritionist we visited at the most popular Chinese fast food chain that we filmed with a hidden camera in China. Unlike France, there are virtually no limits on sugar, fat, salt or food coloring. For the nutritionist, there is no doubt that fast food restaurants like this make China fat.

His burgers are even more calorie-dense than their American counterparts. Hamburger buns are loaded with dyes. Fried chicken full of sauce is a nutritionist's nightmare, but instead of addressing the causes of obesity, China is fighting those who have already gained weight, it is an obsession throughout the country, in some cases, losing weight can even get rich and famous on television. has capitalized on the topic on the air countless reality shows revolve around the same principle the winner is the one who loses the most kilos The Biggest Loser is the most famous program the first season 3 years ago I had a young man who weighed 147 kilos 3 years later we met with He is unrecognizable in his apartment in Beijing.

J Jaz, 25 years old, lost 50 kilos in 100 days. It is a diet that can be dangerous physically and psychologically, but thanks to it he won the game. This is a case study of how many Chinese J Jaz began to gain weight. since his childhood after his parents' divorce. He was raised by his grandfather, who gave him everything. The boy became obese at the age of six. His life changed after winning The Biggest Loser. Not only did he lose weight but he also became famous on television. He was seen as a role model for losing weight. He was hired by the show's production company to keep him in shape.

His bosses paid a personal trainer who made him sweat for up to 4 hours a day. day magazine covers appearances advertisements for clothing brands his face is everywhere several times a month he shares his experience as a former obese person he always tells the same story the redemption of an overweight man after losing weight this is what inspires his audience ju Jaz has become a role model for millions of Chinese people, even those who do not have weight problems, want to follow his model since they obtained the physique of a model. Juu Jaz is in constant demand.

He finally has friends several times a week. He will meet them on the University campus to play his favorite sport under the gaze of his admirers his fan club a year ago these young women were also obese the two young women claim to have lost more than 20 kilos in a few months they only have eyes for his idol the new Chinese model a young man who has lost weight, however, the dangers of this brutal diet are not mentioned, as is the root of the obesity problem, the fast pace of city life in China, in the streets of Beijing, the capital, we meet more and more people who suffer from obesity young people often single with stressful jobs Jean Q is 28 years old, weighs 147 kilos and has been obese since she was little but recently her condition has gotten out of control to reach her house she has to climb five flights of stairs is a nightmare Jean works at night during the day she almost never leaves her apartment the young woman spends most of her time playing video games on her smartphone in addition to eating a lot jeanu does not play any sport but has decided to drink the matter in her own hands goes to a clinic specialized in the treatment of obesity a clinic that practices traditional medicine more and more overweight Chinese resort to these methods before the diagnosis D is definitive the young woman suffers from morbid obesity runs the risk of suffering from diabetes and even liver cancer, you run the risk of dying and to solve it the doctor offers a remedy that seems quite gentle the method can be surprising in China it has been practiced for 5,000 years for acupuncture to be effective the needles must reach specific points under the skin In the case of obese patients they must first pass through a thick layer of fat these needles are 15 cm long after the needles are acupointed it is another traditional Chinese technique commonly used as a treatment for obesity this remedy granny is also supposed to regulate the flow of energy in the body and promote blood circulation 7 minutes later the suction cups are removed one by one according to doctors regular sessions will eventually allow you to lose weight although many Chinese believe in the effectiveness of these methods every More and more people are turning to more modern and radical techniques.

In Guang Cho there is a hospital that specializes in treating obesity but without needles or suction cups the results are incredible They are displayed in the lobby with his shy demeanor This 46-year-old surgeon is a star in his field courted by millions of patients he is the New Hope of obese Chinese at least for those who have the means his operation costs €10,000 his secret a technique that he himself calls a last resort operation since in recent years the number of applications has skyrocketed. The doctor today treats an average of three patients a day. The patient is a 120 kilo student who wants to lose 60.

It is a serious operation but it will hardly leave a scar on the patient's body. Everything goes through the naval technique, a technique practiced in everything. the world but for it to be effective the surgeon recommends a change in diet after the operation, but this is often not the case here patients run the risk of regaining their weight and also serious psychological problems back to shenzen Under the monsoon rains in the rehabilitation camp for overweight teenagers like every morning, the trainees are calledone by one for he weighed when he arrived 8 days ago he weighed 94 kilos in addition to many sports the students need to learn to eat healthy this is one of the objectives of the camp the meals are carefully planned what was before the best time of day for them now is a tough test for duw the food served in the dining room is not up to par there is not enough food depression and still 6 hours of sports a day the camp enters its second phase the activities are more intense there are only 3 weeks left to get rid of the kilos the trainers push the teenagers to the end the objective is to use their fat reserves duw he resists somehow he still has three weeks left to suffer duw he is not sure he can hold out if he wants to achieve his goal he will have to lose almost a kilo per day day to the end of the field obesity is not a problem exclusive to young people in China the government has launched a plan to reduce the average weight of the population by 2030 state-of-the-art gyms have sprung up everywhere at least 40,000 in the country and there are gyms that open every day a business that can generate billions Suzanne is 36 years old she has entrusted her Fitness to her smartphone he follows her everywhere even during breakfast he is her physical trainer the orange bars are how much you eat and the green bars are how much exercise you do and this is the assigned quarter of the 1374 calories you should eat daily but if we put the green one on top it means you could eat a little more like 70 million Chinese Suzanne uses boa one of the biggest hits on the internet in the country is a weight loss app this morning you are allowed to eat peanut butter it works well you both have planned everything you have to do an hour of yoga with your virtual trainer happy to have another peanut butter to meet the creator of this app We have to travel to Shanghai to fulfill the image of his business.

Mr. Maah arrives in athletics and sneakers to the office. He owes his immense fortune to his ex-girlfriend. Since then, Mr. Maah has changed his professional direction for the moment, his American-style startup has 80 employees but he does not plan to stop there the fatter China becomes, the more Mr. Mar flourishes, the businessman even installed a film studio in his office, hey, he hired Miss Ywen, the most famous nutritionist in the country, we had already met at a fast food restaurant, she is a junk food specialist. The secret of her success is not blaming the boa client, perhaps the beginning of awareness about health issues, but 1,500 kilometers away, in Guang Joo, a woman has decided to turn the whole thing upside down.

Why do we have to lose weight at all costs instead of accepting it? Recently, a new trend of plus-size models has emerged, a phenomenon that has questioned the normalized standard of beauty at 30 years old. Hang Fay has just set up her modeling agency, an agency specializing in plus size models. The businesswoman is always looking for new faces for advertisements, fashion shows or online commerce, although the profession is very new, she receives 100 applications every month, a great challenge for these young women. Obese people are often discriminated against and have a harder time finding work compared to other people the agency is helping.

To change that, girls get on the scale and have their measurements taken even if the models are curvy enough. The criteria are strict and they are all new to the industry. Is there something special you are looking for? Yeah, I don't really want it. the boo is so big because uh for the normal model or the pr size also if the boo is too big you look fat yes, for the normal model it looks 168 and you can see that it has a really particular Chinese face. I love this face, yes, well after measurements. The photo shoot is fine, showing the beauty of these unusual girls is more than just business.

Fay is fighting for curvy people to be better accepted in society. Modeling has become a militant act for the agency that has just celebrated its first anniversary and contracts. They have already signed in China and abroad with full confidence that this new wave of models are proud of their curves, although they do not always go unnoticed on the street, it will undoubtedly take time to change the opinion of one billion and 400 million Chinese J Jaz the. The reality show star continues to take advantage of her success, she has a new program in the works, always on the same topic, how to look good and lose weight when you are overweight.

Jean has finished her acupuncture sessions without success, she even gained three kilos and is discouraged, she has given up the idea of ​​losing weight, finally duw sent us this video of him at the end of his camp, his trainers filmed him, he looks exhausted but he has lost 16 kilos, he just hopes to keep the weight off and not gain it. He returns like last year and runs the risk of spending his next vacation in the camp again according to studies. If the country continues at the same pace, 48 million young Chinese will be obese by 2025.