The weird, new challenge that is enthralling young Chinese netizens on Weibo is quite simple to do: Participants simply have to take a video or photo of themselves as the try to reach their belly button from behind and then around the waist. The objective of the challenge is to determine if the participant has a "good figure"—if not, then it's an indication that they may need to lose weight.
To date, about 104,000 active discussions on the belly button challenge have been tracked, according to the BBC. Even Chinese celebrities are into it—young stars like Yang Mi, Zhang Jiani and Huo Siyan posted their challenges to their social media accounts, according to the Daily Mail.
Users claim that the idea stemmed from a "scientific study" done in the United States. Some people, who believe themselves to be fit, have failed to successfully do the challenge, the Daily Mail further reported.
"I can't do it either. There are three factors for achieving it. The first is the person is thin, the second is having long arms and the third is having good flexibility," said Xei Wie, a local, to People's Daily Online. "Apart from doing stretching exercises regularly, those who can successfully do this challenge are people who are very slim with very small waists."
Experts said that the craze, while not physically harmful, promotes eating disorders and a "distorted" view of beauty. "Quirky poses and pictures can be fun, but sometimes they also become expressions of competitiveness or insecurity," said Jolene Tan, who heads Aware, a women's rights group in Singapore, via the BBC.
"If you can touch your belly button from behind your back, you could be in better shape than someone who can't, but you shouldn't have a false sense of security about your health. You might have a small waist and look healthy, but your blood work could show that you're just as unhealthy as someone who weighs 400 pounds," said Dr. Charlie Seltzer, a weight-loss specialist from Philadelphia, via Cosmopolitan.
His expert advice? "If you can't do it, don't be completely freaked out."
