I understand that diet and skinny culture is a pretty normalized in the k-pop industry, but i still find this incredibly sad to see, especially from someone so young. Seeing Martin's live stream really highlights this issue. He openly admitted that he wants to eat whatever he wants, but skips meals to lose weight because he feels happier when he looks "pretty."
This kind of pressure is baked into the system, with agencies using harsh metrics like the "height minus 120" weight formula to keep artists dangerously thin. We have seen this same cycle hurt so many other stars, two examples are how Momo from Twice survived on just ice cubes for a week to debut, and Jimin (BTS) admitted to eating only one meal a day for days during his traineeship. And keep in mind there are many more.
Because the public is so desensitised to these extreme expectations, people barely blink or react when an idol drops a confession like this, treating a clear health crisis as just another part of the job.
It's crazy how some people view this as just a "Weight-loss journey" while It's literally an eating disorder, one of the world's deadliest mental diseases btw. I'm not just talking about martin specifically but other idols as well. Seeing this issue so overlooked by fans is harsh to watch.
I hope he and others can get the help they need, just because their idols doesn't mean that their safe from the consequence's of starving themselves.