A couple in China has sparked widespread backlash after allegedly turning their three-year-old daughter into a mukbang content creator, with the child’s weight reportedly increasing to 35kg, more than double the average weight for her age.
According to Chinese media reports cited by Oddity Central, the girl, known by the nickname Peiqi, regularly appeared in videos eating high-calorie foods such as fried chicken and fatty meat before the clips were uploaded to Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
To attract viewers, her parents reportedly used captions including “Chubby three-year-old weighs 33kg” and “Amazing appetite” on their social media posts.
Mukbang, a trend that features people consuming large amounts of food for entertainment, has long drawn criticism over concerns about unhealthy eating habits, food waste and its potential health risks. Several deaths involving mukbang content creators have also been reported in recent years.
Public outrage intensified after Peiqi’s weight was reported to have reached 35kg, while the average weight for a three-year-old girl is around 15kg.
Despite the criticism, the couple denied forcing their daughter to overeat. They claimed Peiqi had always had a large appetite since birth and said she weighed just 2.25kg when she was born.
The parents also insisted that the income earned from the mukbang videos was not enough to cover the cost of the food consumed by their daughter.
Following mounting public pressure, Douyin reportedly suspended the account linked to Peiqi, while her parents later deleted their social media accounts.
