Blind banting killed a 15-year-old girl in Shanghai, who was 165 centimeters tall but weighed less than 30 kilograms when she died.
Over critical about her weight of 54 kilograms when growing to 165 centimeters tall, the girl started to go on a diet. She soon became anorexic and had a severe stomachache during examination time, which was very intense. However, her mind on banting remained unshakable, and finally died of brain hemorrhage directly caused by a desperately weak hematopoiesis function.
Meanwhile, another 17-year-old girl was so discouraged by being refused entrance into a dancing school because of her figure that she stopped eating any meals but only a little snacks like treated fruit. Over time she started acting strange in action and thought and finally ended up in the hospital.
Doctors called for more attention to such phenomena, reiterating that physical exercise accompanied by an appropriate diet is recommended for banting while only extreme obesity can resort to medical therapy.
It is shown in a survey that 24 percent of students in Shanghai are malnourished, but many of them still have strong wish to go on a diet.
(Xinhua 01/28/2001)
