New Delhi: Overweight people in China are shedding the extra kilos not by hitting the gym or following a strict diet. Instead, they are going to a ‘fat prison’ for a month. China’s fat prison is not a criminal detention centre.
In this locked space with regimented life, obese and overweight people enrol to lose weight through intense training programmes — if they can cough up $1000 (around Rs 90,269) for a month-long course.
China’s beauty standards have evolved through distinct historical and social phases. In imperial China, fair skin was associated with elite status, as it indicated freedom from manual labour.
Practices such as foot-binding, prevalent till the 20th century, imposed physical restrictions on women and were socially linked to ideals of beauty and marriageability.
Facilities at the ‘prison’
Inside the ‘prison’, participants sleep in shared rooms with up to five people. They train four hours a day and attend 19 different exercises each week. Each day ends with a mass spinning class resembling a rave, complete with loud music and flashing lights, as rows of riders pedal in unison toward weight loss.
From 7:40 pm, participants are free, and Sundays are designated rest days, aside from a mandatory evening spinning class. Meals are served on stainless steel trays and measured sparingly.
One of the videos shows breakfast that consisted of a single slice of bread, a small amount of tomato and cucumber and four hard-boiled eggs. Lunch was considered the main and most filling meal of the day, featuring dishes such as roasted duck, lotus root, stir-fried vegetables and a banana for dessert.
Cynically dubbed ‘fat prisons’, many of these facilities have come up in China, where people enrol for varied durations to lose weight quickly.
These facilities have locked gates and perimeter fencing with huge walls on all sides, and no participant can leave at their will during the course unless they have a valid reason, prompting people on the internet to describe it as a prison.
One of the influencers, whose videos went viral, posted on Instagram how she lost four kgs in 14 days at one of these facilities.
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Australian citizen in Chinese ‘fat prison’
It all began on 5 December, when an Australian influencer, who goes by the name Eggeats on Instagram, posted a video of her getting enrolled at one of the weight loss centres. She posted a few-second-long reel showing her life at the centre.
As the videos went viral, many expressed their wish to join the programme. In a series of videos, the influencer showed her routine from morning to evening.
The day starts at 7:30 in the morning at the centre; the first activity is to check weight, then proceed to a morning aerobic class. After a one and half long hour class, food is served, which mainly consists of veggies and protein. There is no carbohydrate in the meal.
The strenuous exercises continue with afternoon weight training from 2-4 pm, followed by another meal. Next, for an hour, the participants have to go for an HIIT class, followed by an hour-long evening spin class. The day would end by checking their weight.
In her latest video from the centre, the influencer, who claims to reveal the real side of Asia through her videos, tells viewers that she has fallen sick in the facility.
In a video posted five days ago, Eggeats was seen crying. She wrote, “I have less energy to just keep exercising for four hours now. I am sick and miserable.”
For a month-long course, the facility charges $1000 (around Rs 90,269), including all meals and stay. A shorter, two-week stay is also available at many facilities.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)