People are still into “fad” diets (severally restricting calories even though it’s been proven that doing so does not lead to weight loss and is actually very unhealthy). They drink teas and diet thinking it will stave off damage from drinking or smoking. Some of them smoke so they won’t eat, some smoke to stay skinny.

There is a lot of pressure to be skinny here. When I first came to Romania so many years ago I was 5′8″ and weighed 260 pounds — obese by western standards although it was proportioned well. People would laugh behind my back. Especially in the summertime, when you wear shorter clothing and dresses. Comments like, “Who is she dressing nice for, herself?” and so on were commonplace. Every day was a struggle to get outside and walk and do something because people in Romania are cruel when it comes to teasing other people.

It is a mentality I have never understood and that is not commonplace abroad. In America, for instance, it would be seen as a MAJOR social faux pas to talk about someone's weight or laugh at them, or gossip. This is seen as very childish and is a huge turn off for a lot of people. You could even lose your job for this kind of behavior. You just don’t do it. So that was a major culture shock to me when I came to Romania.' - https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Romanian-beauty-standards-for-women