Health awareness rises in Chinese youth

Xiao Yang, a 23-year-old designer in Changsha, said he recently started to wear a CGM after finding that he had gained some weight since working in July.

"It's difficult to keep a healthy lifestyle transitioning from school life to the workplace. I find myself working out rarely, eating lots of take-out and going to bed late at night," Xiao said.

As a result, he gained more than 5 kilograms in six months, so he believes it is important for him to do something about it.

He also noticed that some of his colleagues in their 30s were beginning to have blood sugar problems during annual physical checkups, so he decided to wear a device to monitor his blood sugar.

After wearing the CGMs, he realized he needed to drink less milk tea, which contains lots of sugar, so he switched to coffee without sugar while exercising more.

CGM users share their experiences in controlling blood sugar levels on social media and creating new food and exercise strategies.

For example, they said that the correct way to drink milk tea is with 50 percent sugar and no cream, taking small sips while walking to avoid blood sugar spikes. Always eat vegetables before carbohydrates. Don't drink water during meals and wait 30 minutes after eating to drink.

However, CGMs are not without their downsides.

Zeng Li, a patient with insulin resistance in Beijing, said she feels extremely anxious about the data from the monitor to the point that fluctuations in the readings affect her physical condition.

In the first two days of wearing CGM, her blood sugar level was around 7.0 before eating and postprandial blood sugar increased to 11.2. She was worried deeply that she might develop diabetes.

She hesitated between monitoring for a few more days and going to the hospital before she looked at hundreds of online posts on the symptoms of diabetes and the blood sugar level of normal people. She could not fall asleep until 3 am in the morning and found that her blood sugar level further increased the following day.

She almost cried when she saw the number. She said she trusted the number and device more than she actually felt.

She had planned to wear them for half a month and stop for the next, but she could not bear not seeing the numbers, so she started wearing them three days afterward.