MANILA, Philippines – MUKBANG no more?
The Department of Health is looking into the possibility of banning mukbang or video content showing creators eating food in excess if it would be proven that the recent death of a food vlogger has a direct link to such practice.
Just last June, the death of Iligan City-based vlogger Dongz Dongz Apatan due to a hemorrhagic stroke hit the headlines. His stroke happened shortly after he released his last reel on June 13, showing him eating large amounts of deep fried chicken and white rice.
The Health department warned the public against overeating because it leads to serious health concerns.
“It’s a bad practice because people make content by overeating and overeating is not healthy. It will lead to obesity and obesity will lead to hypertension, heart condition, non-communicable diseases and even heart attacks,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said in an interview.
Along with conducting an investigation on the possible link of mukbang practice to Apatan’s death, Herbosa issued a public health warning against such content and intends to have similar videos regulated.
“I can ban it locally, I can propose for banning mukbang locally. Even ask the DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] to stop those sites….You can earn income as long as it does not produce health risks, if you’re earning income from something that is a public health threat, I will have to stop you,” Herbosa said.
Herbosa stressed that such content poses serious danger.
“Other people copy it. Other people will also do the same because they earn money from doing a video blog of mukbang. So, it’s risky for them,” he said.
“Kasi nga you are promoting unhealthy behavior to the Filipinos so I can ban it locally, I can propose for banning mukbang locally even ask DICT to stop those sites kasi para rin siyang food pornography making people eat like gluttons,” he said.
Mukbang started in South Korea around 2008. This broadcast eating soon became a global online trend. Instead of unhealthy mukbang videos, the DOH encouraged content creators to practice “Pinggang Pinoy,” a food guide using a food plate model to show the recommended proportion of food groups in every meal to meet the body’s nutritional needs.
