As a parent, it is difficult not to notice how food trends shape the lives of our children. For many Gen Z Malaysians, ayam gepuk is no longer just a meal. It is a craving, a social outing, a delivery order, a TikTok recommendation, and sometimes, a family favourite.
Many of us parents are pulled into the same trend too. One child suggests it, another says it is their favourite, and before we realise it, spicy smashed fried chicken has becomes part of the weekly routine.
There is joy in that. In Malaysia, food is culture, comfort, identity, and connection. Ayam gepuk is not the problem by itself. It is simply a familiar symbol of the viral food culture that many young Malaysians are growing up with a culture that celebrates indulgence, while the same digital space pressures them to stay slim.
Today’s young people are living with a contradiction that previous generations did not experience in the same way. The same digital world that makes ayam gepuk, loaded drinks, desserts, late-night snacks, and oversized meals go viral also promotes slim bodies, “glow-up” transformations, calorie fear, and fast weight-loss solutions. This is where the conversation becomes more serious.
Gen Z is not the problem. They are growing up inside an environment that sells both indulgence and insecurity. They are encouraged to try the latest viral food, yet pressured to look slim, camera-ready, and socially acceptable.
When body-image pressure meets online marketing, slimming products and weight-loss injections can begin to look like an easy answer. Malaysia’s slimming drug problem should no longer be viewed as a beauty issue. It is a public health warning.
More Malaysians are struggling with weight-related health risks, but the causes are rarely just “lack of discipline”. Eating habits, food affordability, stress, sleep, physical inactivity, school and work schedules, family routines, and the wider food environment all play a role.
At the same time, social media has changed how young people relate to food and their bodies. A meal is no longer just eaten; it is recorded, reviewed, rated, shared, and repeated. A body is no longer just lived in; it is compared, filtered, judged, and measured against images online.
This creates a difficult cycle. Viral food culture encourages consumption. Beauty culture encourages restriction. Then the slimming industry steps in to sell a shortcut.
Slimming teas, detox drinks, appetite suppressants, “natural” capsules, fat-burning supplements, and unregistered products continue to circulate online. Some are promoted through before-and-after photos, emotional testimonials, influencer codes, live-selling sessions, or claims of rapid weight loss without exercise or dietary changes.
For a young person who feels insecure, tired, or judged, such promises can be powerful.
The risk is that consumers may believe they are buying something harmless simply because it is labelled as herbal, natural, traditional, or celebrity-endorsed.
In reality, some slimming products may be unregistered, poorly regulated, or mixed with hidden active ingredients. These substances can affect the heart, blood pressure, mood, sleep, digestion, and other body systems.
The danger becomes greater when products are bought through social media, private messages, or informal sellers instead of proper health channels.
The issue is no longer limited to slimming pills. Prescription-based weight-loss treatments and injectable medications are also entering everyday conversations. Drugs such as tirzepatide, retatrutide are increasingly discussed online as if they are ordinary slimming tools. For selected patients, weight-loss medications may have a legitimate medical role when prescribed and monitored by qualified healthcare professionals.
However, when such treatments are treated as beauty hacks or obtained through informal channels, the risk changes completely.
Weight-loss injections are not lifestyle accessories. They are medical treatments. They require proper assessment, patient selection, dosage adjustment, monitoring, and follow-up.
They may not be suitable for everyone. They should not be casually promoted as shortcuts by sellers, influencers, beauty agents, or social media personalities. We also need to be careful not to shame young people.
It is easy to criticise Gen Z for loving viral food or wanting fast results, but that misses the bigger picture. Young people did not create the digital environment around them. They are navigating it. They are exposed every day to food promotions, edited images, transformation videos, and commercial messages that turn insecurity into a product.
Public health messaging must therefore change. Telling people to “just eat less” or “just exercise” is not enough. Families should be able to talk about food and weight without turning every meal into criticism.
Schools, universities, and workplaces should teach media literacy, safe medication use, emotional eating, physical activity, and how to identify misleading health claims online. Health care providers must also create safer spaces for weight management. People seeking help for weight loss should not be judged or dismissed.
If safe obesity care is expensive, difficult to access, or delivered with stigma, people will continue to look for faster and riskier alternatives online.
The generation caught between ayam gepuk and weight-loss injections should not be blamed. It is a generation growing up in a complex health environment. The real issue is not that young people enjoy food, but that insecurity has become a market.
Weight loss should never come at the cost of safety. The goal should not be to shame bodies, punish food choices, or mock a generation.
The goal should be to protect Malaysians from misinformation, unsafe products, and the false promise that health can be achieved through shortcuts.
The authors are from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Malaya.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
