Chinese parents have begun to wear helmets that shape the head of their children. They believe these helmets will enhance their beauty and make their heads look rounder. Screengrab/Taobao
Chinese parents have been investing in helmet-like molds worth $4,000 to make their children's skulls rounder.
Because perfectly rounded heads are considered the beauty standard of the country,
Other products that "correct the head", such as sleeping mats and special pillows, are also in high demand.
China's newest trend is for parents to spend money on helmets that will mold their children's heads into perfect, round shapes.
Tencent News reports that corrective molds were first applied to babies' heads in October. Parents began to flock to shops to purchase helmets for their children. These helmets look like bowling balls and are intended for babies with flat heads. They involve the mold being strapped onto a child's head for extended hours, with the belief that this will help shape their soft, still-developing skulls into a more aesthetically-pleasing, rounded shape, per the country's beauty standards.
South China Morning Post featured one mother's account, which she posted on Quora-like forum Xiaohongshu. She described how she used a piece "miracle" equipment to "correct a baby’s head shape." The mother wrote "I took my seven-month-old to head-shape correction" and described how she took her daughter to a medical facility in order to have "head correction gear" made for her.
The unnamed woman wrote that wearing a helmet on the head has the same function of braces. "I believe wearing a helmet on the head can correct a body part and make it beautiful," she said in the post. "I have a flat skull and know how difficult it can be for women who want to pursue beauty. This is something I do not want my child to regret.
Although it is unknown how much the mother paid for the head mold for her baby, a report from Sohu, a Chinese news website, stated that such devices can run around $4,300.
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Alibaba-owned Taobao, China’s answer to Amazon, sells a range of head correction devices for babies. These range from $20 head-shape-correcting pillows to $3 versions of the head correction helmets, and $15 sleeping mats to prevent infants from sleeping in ways that might "cause a flat head."
Social media users on Weibo have begun sharing tips and tricks to make a round head. This refers to different styles one can use to give their hair a more round appearance.
Separately, Weibo's trending topic "How flat can one’s head get?" has generated 32,000 comments discussing how to "correct" and "hide" one's head shape. Weibo users made a reference to Jeon Jungkook, the K-Pop singer of BTS fame. They commented on his round head shape. Others shared photos of progress and discussed ways to rounden their heads.
"Look at my flathead. My mother asked me if it was because she forced me to sleep on her back so that my head would be flat. It looks like the back of my head got chopped off," wrote a Weibo user with the ID LiLvTingShiGeXiaoTianCai.
"Your head shape determines your attractiveness. DADD DaMin, a Weibo user, wrote that children should get a head start and fix their skull bones as soon as possible.
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