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Image:Vice

by Angela Hui
04 February 2019,

Weight issues have always come with huge social stigma in east Asian and diaspora communities.

"Asia's obsession with thinness stems from various reasons but—as in the West—one of the main reasons is a media-driven culture that sees young girls idolize perfect pop stars and skinny celebrities from an early age. "

"According to Dr Lim, this is down to a cultural problem. "What we perceive as the social norm in Asia is very media driven and advertising from companies tend to present their products with slim models and as a result, most people will perceive this as something of a target or goal for them to achieve."

"When I was young, I was constantly told that if I didn't stop eating, I would never marry and would grow up to be fat and alone. My idea of beauty standards are still skewed by these subliminal threats."

"In my experience, Asian families tend to be more upfront with one another than the families of my white peers—they disregard feelings and focus more on strict discipline. Being too fat or too thin represents an unhealthy, undisciplined lifestyle, and whoever doesn't conform to their standards will be shamed until they reform. It's a vicious cycle of tough love where there's no winning."

Full https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/ezje ... ian-family

My Missus is skinny as hell. I doubt she even weighs 45kg. I put on 4kg and I get called fat by the whole family, and it's funny to them. Good job I'm not a sensitive little flower.

I notice more and more fat kids all the time. Often their parents fatten them because they think it looks cute and rich. Many manage to lose the weight later but a whole lot are destined for unhealthy lives.

John Bingham wrote:I notice more and more fat kids all the time. Often their parents fatten them because they think it looks cute and rich. Many manage to lose the weight later but a whole lot are destined for unhealthy lives.

Yeah I've noticed local parents love those chubby Chinese kid videos. They think they look really cute with the pudgy faces, when it reality they're totally obese and at such an extremely young age, it'll follow them forever. A bit if baby fat isn't bad, but when a kid is 5 or 6 and visibly fat (eyes are slits from the cheek fat), they'll likely have weight and health problems for the remainder of their lives (and then those same parents will think the kid is ugly for being fat once they go past the age of 12).

My experience in Cambodia is quite the opposite, And being fat is connected to being wealthy. At least for men. Big cars and large bellies....

Buddha had a big belly

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 7:39 am Buddha had a big belly

The laughing fat man is not Buddha. But most believe it is.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai