Nicholas Perry, 31, known on social media as Niko Avocado, has amassed more than 3.6 million YouTube subscribers by recording videos of himself eating large quantities of food.
Media personality Oli London shared a video of Perry on Wednesday, tweeting, “Millions of young people watch this man’s binge eating videos. Niko Avocado has over 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube and films himself stuffing his face with food for monetary tips from his fans.”
Despite being famous for overeating, in March, the social media star announced that he had managed to lose 89 pounds. However, in May, Perry posted a TikTok video where he acknowledged that he had gained back 30 pounds and currently weighed 352.8 pounds.
According to Insider, Perry’s binge eating videos have attracted the attention of a massive YouTube audience since 2016. Perry is considered to be a “mukbanger,” which is a term used for people who record themselves binge eating large quantities of food and posting the videos online.
Perry’s videos bring attention to the rising issue of obesity in the United Stats. According to National Institutes of Health, the “obesity epidemic” first appeared in the United States between 1976-1980. Additionally, the CDC noted that obesity prevalence in the United States reached 41.9% in 2017.
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Obesity has resulted in recruitment difficulties for the U.S. military. A study by the Pentagon discovered that 77 percent of young people in the United States are not qualified for military service without a waiver due to issues such as being overweight, drug usage or other mental and physical problems.
“When considering youth disqualified for one reason alone, the most prevalent disqualification rates are overweight (11 percent), drug and alcohol abuse (8 percent), and medical/physical health (7 percent),” the Pentagon’s 2020 Qualified Military Available Study of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 read.
