Kannur, Kerala (March 10, 2025): An 18-year-old girl from Kannur died after following an online diet plan to lose weight. The girl, identified as Sreenanda, was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Thalassery, where she passed away. She was on ventilator support and had also received treatment at Kozhikode Medical College.
According to her family, Sreenanda feared gaining weight. She often skipped meals and exercised excessively. Her diet mainly consisted of liquids. She was a student at Pazhassi Raja NSS College in Mattanur. Medical experts believe she may have suffered from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that has become more common since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several cases have surfaced where extreme dieting and the use of steroids for body enhancement have led to fatal consequences. Last year, a 14-year-old boy in the United States died after eating spicy chips as part of a social media challenge. The chips contained high levels of chili, which triggered a severe reaction. An autopsy revealed that the boy had a congenital heart condition. Though this incident occurred in the U.S., similar cases have been reported in India as well