Kim Kardashian Calling the Flu an ‘Amazing Diet’ Sparks Backlash

Kim Kardashian has found a diet that’s really working for her just in time for the Met Gala — the flu.

Kim Kardashian posing
Photo: Getty Images

Late Tuesday night, the reality star took to Twitter to share: “The flu can be an amazing diet. So happy it came in time for the Met lol #6lbsdown”

Photo: Twitter
Photo: Twitter

However, while shedding some pounds from the viral infection is a normal side effect (although, it should be noted, it’s typically just water weight from symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite from nausea), an illness is certainly not a safe diet, as Kardashian implied.

Many on social media were quick to point this out.

“I’d watch what I say,” another responded. “People will start saying the flu is the next amazing way to lose weight lol.”

And with Kardashian’s popularity, it’s possible — even probable — that some would take her word for it. More important, though, it’s the suggestion that illness is a viable route to thinness, an ideal Kardashian helps perpetuates on a society struggling with body image issues, is dangerous.

Photo: Tumblr
Photo: Tumblr

The “joke” is one many on the Internet are repeating, and it’s even been referenced in pop culture when in The Devil Wears Prada Emily Blunt’s character Emily tells Anne Hathaway’s Andi, “I’m one stomach flu away from my goal weight.”

The difference between a confession made in jest made between friends and Kardashian’s tweet is the fact that the Keeping Up With the Kardashians player made it to her 51 million followers — old and young, wise and impressionable.

Kardashian has also raised concerns around eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some point in their life. Additionally, more than half of teenage girls and nearly a third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight-loss methods, a demographic who just so happens to be some of Kardashian’s biggest fans.

‘’It’s unfortunate that a celebrity who’s in the public eye with such a following on social media would make such a comment,” a spokesperson from the eating-disorder charity Beat tells Yahoo Beauty. “Young people struggling with an eating disorder are fighting a tough enough battle as it is without thoughtless remarks such as this, which can make it even harder.”

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