Chinese teen starves herself to death after crush chooses thinner girl

The girl, identified by the pseudonym Xiaoling, had been diagnosed with severe anorexia nervosa and passed away after more than 20 days in a deep coma, South China Morning Post reported Wednesday.

She was trying to gain the attention and affection of a boy she had a crush on, who had reportedly fallen for a girl thinner than her.

A girl drinking water. Illustration photo by Unsplash

After going for 50 days from January to mid-March consuming nothing but water, Xiaoling fell into unconsciousness and was hospitalized.

"She is as light as a quilt. We are not sure if she can regain consciousness," an unnamed doctor said in the video documenting Xiaoling’s treatment, which went viral on social media.

The situation lasted for 20 days before her parents came to the heartbreaking decision to stop the treatment and let her go.

Chinese netizens were left questioning the country’s rigorous beauty standards.