The death of a 24-year-old mukbang influencer, reportedly from cardiac arrest linked to critically low potassium levels, has renewed concerns over the health risks faced by online personalities who engage in extreme eating content.
The influencer, known online as “Yingying” and surnamed Chen, died on August 17, according to her parents, who announced her death on social media last Friday. She had more than one million followers.
In her final video, posted on August 14, Yingying revealed that repeated overeating had caused her potassium levels to fall and resulted in another hospitalisation.
She said her blood potassium level had dropped to as low as 2.3, which she attributed largely to her work as a mukbang influencer and her long-term habit of inducing vomiting. She also warned viewers that while making money was important, health should come first.
Yingying said eating livestreams could be physically demanding, revealing that she once had to consume between 60 and 70 preserved eggs during a broadcast. She added that other products also required her to continue eating, while influencers faced pressure to consume more to drive sales.
Dr Chai Qichen from Zhejiang Hospital’s Department of General Practice explained that binge eating alone does not directly cause severe potassium loss. Instead, he pointed to practices such as self-induced vomiting and laxative use as key risks among some mukbang influencers.
According to Chai, gastric and intestinal fluids contain much higher concentrations of potassium than blood. Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea can therefore cause substantial potassium loss, potentially leading to progressively lower blood potassium levels.
Yingying’s case is not isolated, with The Paper reporting that some mukbang influencers have pushed themselves into extreme eating and self-harming practices to maintain their online personas and attract viewers.
Some influencers have reportedly consumed 20 to 25kg of food within two hours, including more than 20 types of food such as crayfish and salmon. One influencer was reported to have eaten 120 potstickers and 16 packets of instant noodles during a single livestream before later reaching around 190kg and developing obesity-related health problems.
Others have reportedly staged or faked their eating and drinking while making exaggerated claims about how much they had consumed, according to The Paper.
Doctors and reports have linked the pressure to maintain extreme eating abilities to online traffic, advertising and livestream sales, with some influencers continuing despite serious health risks. Several cases have reportedly ended in death.
Among them was 29-year-old mukbang influencer “Paopaolong”, who died of heart failure after his weight reached 160kg. Another influencer, “Wenweige”, continued high-intensity eating livestreams despite having end-stage kidney disease and requiring regular dialysis before his death.
Alcohol streamer “Sanqiange” also died after reportedly consuming four bottles of baijiu during a livestream PK session, The Paper reported.
China has introduced regulations aimed at curbing unhealthy and excessive eating content online. The Anti-Food Waste Law, passed in 2021, prohibits the production, publication and dissemination of audio and video content promoting excessive food consumption and binge eating.
A 2022 code of conduct for online streamers also prohibits practices including staged eating, inducing vomiting and binge eating, according to The Paper.
