Warning: This article contains descriptions of disordered eating which some readers may find distressing.
A doctor has raised concerns following the death of a well-known streamer in China, who passed away due to overeating while live on camera.
On 14 July, streamer Pan Xiaoting tragically died during a livestream with her audience.
The 24-year-old engaged in a type of streaming called mukbang, where individuals film themselves eating large quantities of food, often unhealthy or in excessive amounts. Reports indicate that Xiaoting had been consuming food for over 10 hours daily without breaks and had undertaken a challenge to eat more than 10kg of food in one sitting.
China banned mukbang videos in 2020 to curb food waste and reduce overeating. However, during Xiaoting’s final broadcast, which led to her demise, it is believed that excessive eating was a contributing factor.
An autopsy revealed that her stomach was filled with undigested food and her abdomen was severely deformed, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper.
A doctor has since detailed the effects of consuming such large amounts of food in a short period.
In an interview with the Daily Star, Dr Gareth Nye, a senior lecturer at Chester Medical School in the UK, explained: “The quicker you eat the more you can get in before the signals are clear but the average person will still reach a feeling of fullness.”
However, ‘competitive eaters or extreme eaters do not have this normal pathway’.
If someone continues to consume large amounts of food over a short period, Dr Nye explains that the body ‘will physically stretch to accommodate the food but the release from the stomach to the intestines is heavily controlled’.
“There are only so many calories the body can take in so much of the food will go through the intestinal transit undigested,” he added.
Undigested food can cause several unpleasant symptoms.
Dr Nye pointed out that undigested food can lead to ‘way too much glucose’ in the body, triggering a stress response known as ‘dumping syndrome’.
This condition can result in ‘heavy sweating, rapid heartbeat, nausea and diarrhoea’.
Dr Nye compares the fascination with over-eating videos to the ‘morbid fascination or disgust’ elicited by pimple popping videos.
He concluded: “In my opinion it is glamorising unhealthy eating practices to a wide audience, particularly children which I worry will lead to issues within the wider population as our children grow and develop.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone, contact the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). You can reach them on their free hotline at 1(888)-375-7767, which is open Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm CST.