Beware Teenagers! Kerala Girl Dies After Following Online Weight-Loss Plans

Kochi: Dieting, losing weight have almost become an obsession for a section of the youth, especially in urban India.

So much so that youngsters often overdo their routines, and actually end up affecting their health.

At times, it can take a fatal turn too. Just like in the case of an 18-year-old Kerala girl.

The teenager from Kannur district, identified as Sreenanda, died due to health complications caused by severe dietary restrictions and prolonged starvation, driven by the fear of gaining weight.

As her health condition deteriorated, Sreenanda was admitted to a hospital in Thalassery, where she had been on ventilator support for the last few days. She was earlier admitted to Kozhikode Medical College and responded initially to treatment.

According to her relatives, Sreenanda used to skip meals and exercise excessively to prevent weight gain.

A first-year undergraduate student at Mattannur Pazhassiraja NSS College, Sreenanda was reportedly following diet plans suggested by online platforms and had been surviving on a water diet, and eventually reached a state of extreme starvation, reported India Today.

According to medical experts, Sreenanda was possibly suffering from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder which leads to obsessing over weight and food intake. In such cases, people who are perfectly okay consider themselves to be overweight and resort to extreme measures.

Cases of anorexia nervosa have gone up after COVID-19.

In Sreenanda’s case, she had been in that condition for five to six months. She reduced her food intake drastically, without letting her family know. According to one of her relatives, she would hide the food served to her at home and later throw it away.

When she was first hospitalised, doctors advised her family to ensure that she ate properly and regularly, and also consult a psychiatrist.

Two weeks ago, she was rushed to Thalassery Co-operative Hospital in critical condition, after her blood sugar level dropped alarmingly, and she had severe breathing difficulties.

Dr Nagesh Manohar Prabhu, a consultant physician at Thalassery Co-operative Hospital, confirmed that she was brought to the hospital around 12 days ago in a critical condition and was directly admitted to the ICU.

“She was hardly 24 kg, bedridden. Her sugar levels, sodium, and blood pressure were extremely low. She was put on ventilator support, but her condition did not improve, and she succumbed,” said Dr Nagesh Manohar Prabhu, consultant physician at the hospital.