It's Mental Health Awareness week. And Kim Kardashian is selling appetite suppressing lollipops.

*Writer's Note: I apologise for the odd structure and rushed tone of this. This was originally supposed to be a Facebook status but it got too long so I posted it to my blog instead. However, I do still think it' worth reading, given the rise of Influencer culture and the dangerous products they often promote*

Kim Kardashian posted the photo & caption above onto her Instagram yesterday and I am absolutely disgusted.

I have seen Flat Tummy Co. products advertised by regular people on Instagram with a fairly large following (around 10k). They're still regular people, so clearly this promotion doesn't pay a groundbreaking amount. Even if they pay her millions, she has a following of over 100 million on Instagram and net worth of $175million. She doesn't need the exposure and she doesn't need the money.

It's more or less impossible, but say she was struggling financially. Her husband's net worth is $160million. Her mother's is $60million. Her siblings' range from $10-50 million. I'm sure she would find the money somewhere. Any way other than advertising these products.

Kim's job is social media, and I understand that. I'm not saying that she shouldn't promote overpriced crap on her Instagram page. Advertise your teeth whitening products. Advertise hair extensions. Advertise self tanner. Advertise any product you want that you obviously don't use. But not to be rude - Kim Kardashian has no real talent. She's been given props for her business skills but her success can be attributed in no small part to Kris Jenner. Kim Kardashian is famous because her people follow her. She owes everything to her followers. The very least she could do is not advertise products that could do damage to their mental or physical health, and this product could do damage to both.

You could argue that Kim is contractually obliged to advertise this. Fine. But then I'd point out that Flat Tummy Co, with their "meal replacement" shakes and their "skinny teas" should never have been a company that someone with her following associated with in the first place. Kim Kardashian makes a living off her body. She could use that as a platform to promote healthy eating and exercise. She'd still be surgically enhanced. She'd still be promoting an unrealistic body image. But at least she'd be promoting better health while doing it. Instead of encouraging the young girls who want to look like Kim Kardashian to be physically active or to eat their vegetables, she's giving them a 'quick fix', and in doing so she's basically saying "don't worry about the health aspect - being skinny is all that matters, and you can do it easily with this overpriced product!" She's a 37 year old woman. She should know better, or at the very least her team should know better. As I said, it's mental health awareness week but it seems none of her team have listened.

You may be wondering why I'm talking about mental health. It's because products like these "appetite suppressing lollipops" can't be anything other than a gateway to eating disorders. There are going to be 13 year old teens desperate to lose weight sucking a lollipop instead of eating their dinner. Best case scenario is that it won't work and they'll just have wasted their money. Then maybe they'll know never to buy anything Kim advertises again. But what if they do work? What good will come of that? All that will happen is they will start eating less and less and start sucking these lollipops more and more. Their body won't get the nourishment it needs. They'll be starving themselves, but they won't feel starving. What is truly sick is that this is what the company wants - they want people to keep buying their products. They want people to starve themselves.

You might say I'm overreacting, and that the risk of developing an eating disorder because of products like this is minimal. I disagree, but even if that were the case even a minimal risk isn't worth taking; an eating disorder is not just a matter of going on a diet and losing a couple of pounds. People die from this. When you risk an increase in development of eating disorders, you're risking lives.

I hope that Kim addresses this and issues an apology, takes the post down and cuts all ties with Flat Tummy Co. Ideally, she can then donate the money she made from the post to a clinic or charity that helps sufferers of eating disorders. But to be honest, she is probably to preoccupied by the money she would lose out on by stopping advertising their products or buying a way out of her contract. Who cares how damaging your Instagram feed is to your fans, as long as you're making money. Right, Kim?