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The obsession with bigger buttocks is real, and reality shows like “Botched” highlight the devastating consequences of women trying to achieve the beauty standards of mainstream media.
The celebrated gluteus maximus of today is not only stretchmark free, but is perfectly round.
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Our favourite youngest Kardashian sister went from a relatively slim teenager to a curvaceous young woman in almost a blink of an eye.
Women around the world view her and other naturally 'thick' women like Ashanti and Boity as “body goals” and are trying to achieve that hourglass body shape by drinking apetamin syrup.
Apetamin is a supplement used to relieve symptoms of allergies as well as treat anorexia (because it helps to increase your appetite).
However it is now being used for instant weight gain for the big booty fetish. There are countless numbers of social media pages and websites selling the brown syrup with a bright orange label.
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It is also featured in fitness blogs and beauty YouTube channels. They promise rapid weight gain and a “slim thick” body shape, and “it will only cost you R450.00 a bottle”.
According to the Food & Drug Administration website, apetamin is an unapproved drug in the U.S., Canada and the UK.
In order for a drug to be approved by the FDA, there must be laboratory and animal tests conducted to ensure that it is safe for human use.
Says 23-year-old Marion from Joburg, “I bought my apetamin from a lady who was doing my hair downtown. I use to take four tablets a day. I experienced stomach cramps as soon as I started taking it, they were so severe I struggled to walk.
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"I was exhausted all the time which is a side effect written on the bottle. Unfortunately I did not gain weight, maybe because I stopped as soon as I started experiencing cramps."
According to the National Institutes of Health, there is a growing misuse of cyproheptadine found in apetamin in Sub Saharan Africa. The study concludes that the misuse will ultimately lead to obesity.
Pharmacist Zinhle Makhanye says she is not certain about apetamin but knows that these supplements will result in overall weight gain and not just in one place.
She also reiterates the fact that they will make you gain fat not muscle. “You cannot expect isolated weight gain in certain parts of your body and not others.”
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“I’m bringing booty back, go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that” says Meghan Trainor in her song All about the Bass.
It's disappointing when women are told that every inch of their body is perfect but then petite women are subsequently shamed for not fitting the bill.
With that said, if you want to gain weight, do thorough research and consult your doctor about healthy ways to do it. Most importantly, make sure you are doing it for yourself.
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