I would admit that growing up in where I am from really distorted my self-perception. I used to be called "fat" in the face... like all the time. Even wearing a size "x-small" here, senior people in China sometimes "joked" with me that "your round fat face looks like an apple". The hot topics on the Chinese facebook are often detrimental to health, such as "how to lose 10 kilograms in 10 days". In my opinion, it was not a lack of consensus over healthy body figures that led to such an obsession with slim bodies. Any information on healthy lifestyles that experts have verified can be easily found on the internet . However the sources rarely took efforts to promote such education. Boasting of the #2 GDP, China has yet to catch up with the developed countries in terms of health. The market demands for nutritional supplements, sports facilities and health-related publications have maintained small. Without governments' efforts nor commercial momentum, many Chinese have not recognized what accounts for a healthy lifestyle, let alone a healthy body figure. Without proper guidance, girls who are impressed with the run-way models simply go after "the thinner, the better".
A second reason could be the lack of respect. In some Chinese cities, it still does not seem to be a big deal to make fun of others' bodies. Seniors lavish words like "fat", "chubby" and "short" on young people. Even TV shows make jokes that attack people's physical imperfections. By contrast, it is the sincere respect for others (as well as for innovation) that drew me to studying in the US.
