Military-style weight loss camps in China are getting popular. You sign up voluntarily for a month and follow a strict daily routine, with intense exercises, mandatory trips to the scales and rules on snacking. Some people have called them “fat prisons”.
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So what’s it like to go to one? TL Huang from Australia tells us about her experience. We hear about the downsides of these kinds of “fat camps” from British nutritionist and personal trainer Luke Hanna. And Wanqing Zhang from the BBC’s Global China Unit explains why more people in China are signing up to them.
00:00 Introduction
01:13 Meet TL Huang who went to a camp
01:41 Family pressure and fat‑shaming
02:46 First impressions of the camp
03:32 A full day’s schedule
04:44 How she coped mentally
05:22 Why she called it a “fat prison”
06:18 Health expert explains the risks
08:23 How widespread are these camps in China?
09:24 Where the trend began – early 2000s to social‑media boom
10:24 Why people are joining them?
11:29 What’s driving rising obesity in China
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Presenter: Iqra Farooq
Producers: Mora Morrison, Chelsea Coates and Julia Ross-Roy
Video producer: Baldeep Chahal
Editor: Verity Wilde
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