Social Media Impacting Chinese Body Image – for Better or Worse

BEIJING -- Social media is having a big impact on our lives, flooding our eyes with a constant stream of images -- for better or worse.

In China, some health experts argue technology is having a negative impact on Millennials.  The steady stream of information and images is pressuring girls to change their physical appearance.

If you ask any young Chinese girl today what's important to her, she's likely to answer "becoming a fashion model."  Marriage and career no longer appeal to them. Instead, having the perfect body weight is the dream of every modern Chinese girl.

"Everyone knows the truth – inner beauty is somewhat important. However, most people believe good-looking girls are still more popular," Chinese Millennial Zhao Xin told CBN News.

Chinese social media weight loss contests inspire young female Millennials to pay close attention to their weight. The contests require them to use printing paper as a way to measure excess body fat.

"I always pay attention to my weight," Liu Yi, another Millennial, said. "It is important to me. Being on a diet has been my favorite choice to avoid gaining extra weight."

Many Chinese girls diet to attract or keep boyfriends, with some fearing their boyfriends might compare them to other, slimmer girls.  

Christian health expert Dr. Sun Liang strongly opposes this type of behavior. He is worried it could create potential health issues for young women, such as anorexia and other eating disorders.

"I don't normally tell my female students and friends to lose weight unless they have to," he told CBN News. "As a health expert, I always encourage them to love who they are. Losing weight is good, but we still need protein to be healthy."

A Dubious First

Japan was the first Asian country to report an increase in eating disorders among Millennials. China is now the most recent to report this growing problem.

A 2009 study found that eating disorders are prevalent in large Asian countries. Most of these young women use laxatives habitually to lose weight. The practice is spreading among college women, with 43 percent now identified as at risk for an eating disorder.

"It is not that I don't want to eat the food," one Chinese youth said. "It is more about how to eat the food and remain the ideal body shape. The struggle is real and painful."

"Among Christians, few of our sisters in my church are suffering the same problem. We need to remember God's Word. Our body is the holy temple. We ought to honor the temple by appreciating our bodies," Dr. Liang said.

On one hand, he said, the debate on body images is likely to go on for a while; on the other hand, more Chinese women believe that society shouldn't pressure anyone to change their bodies.

Dr. Liang said the good news is more health experts are trying to educate Millennials on this critical matter

"I am going to invite more Christian health experts to join this mission," he said. "We need to see ourselves as the way God sees us. We are perfect, made in His image. All women are beautifully and fearfully made."