"Fainted on the Street Due to Extreme Dieting"...K-Pop Female Idols Reveal the Severity of Their Health Deterioration

K-Pop female idols have disclosed serious health problems resulting from extreme dieting. In the SBS special program “Body-Mentary: Confessions About Weight” broadcast on the 29th, prominent K-Pop female stars such as Kim Wan-seon, Han Seung-yeon, Jun Hyo-sung, Soyou, and Hwasa appeared to share their struggles caused by external pressure to maintain a specific appearance. Hwasa of MAMAMOO revealed that she practiced extreme dieting during her trainee days. She said, “It was a time when I felt I had to work hard, and I didn’t know what the right approach was. I thought I had to do that in order to debut, so I stopped eating altogether.” She added, “On the days when we weighed ourselves, we would gather with our members and buy laxatives from a pharmacy to take.” Hwasa confessed that she would feel guilty after secretly eating black sesame injelmi and then vomit, saying, “It eventually led to anorexia.” Having experienced a petition campaign demanding her removal from the group due to her appearance early in her career, Hwasa expressed bitterness, saying, “It’s the fate of idols, but especially back then, the standards of beauty seemed extremely strict.” She mentioned that after overcoming her struggles, she reflected the pressure of beauty standards in her song “Maria,” and that seeing fans gain strength from her music motivated her to keep speaking out. Soyou, formerly of SISTAR, said that her company set a target weight of 48 kg for her during her trainee period. She recounted that she once fainted on the street due to severe dieting, saying, “A stranger took me to the hospital. I was afraid that if I received an IV drip, my weight would increase significantly.” She added that the worry about gaining weight even while on IV treatment led to panic disorder. Soyou also revealed her extreme dieting methods, saying, “I would eat four quail eggs and remove the yolks—that was my entire meal.” Regarding the harsh standard known as the “Height-120” formula, she explained, “Because of this formula, I had no choice but to obsess over numbers.” This formula requires a female idol’s weight to be 120 less than her height and has functioned like an unspoken rule in the industry. Jun Hyo-sung, formerly of SECRET, alternated between binge eating and rapid weight loss. Reflecting on her period when she weighed 50 kg, she said, “I felt like I wasn’t fulfilling my professional duties properly.” She described the expected body type for idols as “pretty and plump, but only in the thighs—while the belly had to be flat.” Regretting her past obsession with appearance, she said, “Wearing tight clothes, using push-up bras to achieve a perfect S-curve, and wearing high heels. At one point, the public’s focus became solely on Jun Hyo-sung’s figure, no matter what she did.” Han Seung-yeon, formerly of KARA, exercised extreme self-restraint during her promotions for the hit song “Mr.” To fit low-rise pants and short tops, she even rationed her water intake until she fainted from extreme thinness. She said that severe body management caused unexplained rashes, and she also suffered from chronic otitis media with effusion, a rare condition resulting from excessive weight loss. Kim Wan-seon, who caused a sensation in the Korean pop music scene in the late 1980s, was no exception. After losing 4–5 kg overnight due to a serious car accident and seeing positive reactions to her slim figure, she maintained that weight for 15 years. She recalled those days when she would go on stage after eating just a few bites of ice cream as “a time when I was as hungry as I was brilliant.” Experts have warned against the unreasonable pressure to maintain a specific body type in the K-Pop industry. Jeong Seol, a 22-year-experienced stylist, explained, “What’s sad about idol culture is the extreme obsession with numbers like weight. But those numbers can’t be the same for everyone.” Those who suffered from various conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, panic disorder, and idiopathic urticaria due to the stress of extreme body management said they participated in the documentary to share the truth they realized only after reaching rock bottom.