A first-year undergraduate student succumbed to severe malnutrition after following an extreme fasting regimen inspired by social media.
Shimona Sharma
The North News
Chandigarh, March 11
A Kerala teenager has died from complications related to anorexia nervosa after adhering to an extreme water-only diet for nearly six months, raising concerns over the influence of online diet trends, according to media reports.
The 18-year-old, a first-year student at Pazhassi Raja NSS College in Mattanur, Kannur, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Thalassery Co-operative Hospital 12 days before her death. Doctors said she was severely malnourished, weighing just 24kg, and displayed critically low blood sugar, sodium, and blood pressure levels. Despite being placed on ventilator support, her condition deteriorated, leading to her death, India Today reported.
According to the NDTV, the medical professionals at the hospital confirmed that the teenager had drastically restricted her food intake for nearly half a year. Family members revealed that she had been discarding food provided by her parents, subsisting only on hot water. Her struggles with disordered eating had previously led to a hospital admission five months ago, where doctors advised her to seek psychiatric help. Two months before her death, she was taken to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for further evaluation, but her condition worsened.
Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder characterised by an intense fear of weight gain and a distorted body image, leading individuals to dangerously restrict food intake. Experts warn that social media-fuelled diet trends can exacerbate such conditions, particularly among impressionable young people.
The teenager is survived by her parents and a brother. Her death has sparked renewed calls for awareness campaigns on eating disorders and the regulation of misleading online diet advice.
