Portion sizes in Japan vs. USA

NewDad24

Keep in mind that Japan is a seriously wealthy country with much purchasing power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Japan

"The economy of Japan is the third largest in the world by nominal GDP and fourth largest by Purchasing power parity and is the world's second largest developed economy."

wbandel

It depends on how you define "wealth". In America, we have a large perceived amount of "wealth" created through IOU's, and therefore we do a lot of speculative buying. We do not directly feel the costs for the items we purchase (milk, meat, cars, houses, oil, etc). Therefore I believe it is easier for us to be gluttonous and over spend on items in comparison to other nations.

If it was a portion thing, or cultural thing, those who visit, study in, or move to the US, would not necessarily conform to our habits so quickly. Our economy allows for speculation and over spending, therefore people do it. To make a more apt comparison, I believe you would have to find an economy that performs much closer to ours. It's like comparing an apple to half an orange.

determinedbutlazy

As for the mega branches, it is my understanding that the portion sizes at a mega branch are still smaller than a comparable super-size or double-burger option in the USA.

Nope. A MacDonald's Mega Mac in Japan is a double big mac, that clocks in at about 750 calories. The mega potato is two large fries in one box, clocking in at over 1000 calories.

Typical convenience foods from convenience stores is calorific and typically heavily carb-based (breads, cakes, ramen noodles, large bags of potato chips, cookies, chocolate). If everyone in Japan really ate like tourists eat, i.e traditional Japanese meals all day every day, then there would be less of a rising problem in this country. But preparing that traditional food is a painstaking/expensive process. Coupled with long hours, a declining marriage rate and the cheapness and availability of fast and convenience food, this is not viable in the majority of cases.

Japanese women don't get fat because of peer pressure. If they see the scale creep up over 50-55kg, they stop eating. I've never seen a "fit" woman here in my day-to-day life. Women here are very skinny with very little muscle.
When I was first in Japan to study, I told friends of mine I was eating healthily because I wanted to lose weight, and they started showing me a bunch of diet articles recommending 600-700 calories a day, diuretic teas, bath salts to put in boiling hot baths to "sweat out the fat", cutting out rice etc etc. It's infuriating.

Carnivor0us

As for the mega branches, it is my understanding that the portion sizes at a mega branch are still smaller than a comparable super-size or double-burger option in the USA.

Nope. A MacDonald's Mega Mac in Japan is a double big mac, that clocks in at about 750 calories. The mega potato is two large fries in one box, clocking in at over 1000 calories.

Typical convenience foods from convenience stores is calorific and typically heavily carb-based (breads, cakes, ramen noodles, large bags of potato chips, cookies, chocolate). If everyone in Japan really ate like tourists eat, i.e traditional Japanese meals all day every day, then there would be less of a rising problem in this country. But preparing that traditional food is a painstaking/expensive process. Coupled with long hours, a declining marriage rate and the cheapness and availability of fast and convenience food, this is not viable in the majority of cases.

Japanese women don't get fat because of peer pressure. If they see the scale creep up over 50-55kg, they stop eating. I've never seen a "fit" woman here in my day-to-day life. Women here are very skinny with very little muscle.
When I was first in Japan to study, I told friends of mine I was eating healthily because I wanted to lose weight, and they started showing me a bunch of diet articles recommending 600-700 calories a day, diuretic teas, bath salts to put in boiling hot baths to "sweat out the fat", cutting out rice etc etc. It's infuriating.

Christ, I'm glad I'm not Japanese. They might be at an acceptable BMI, but they sure don't sound very healthy. (Especially the women) Cultural pressure can only go so far before it's harmful.

cmstraut

What I have learned from traveling to many countries, is that it is not always portion that is answer. It is the spacing a time and conversation with food that makes ppl eat less. This longer meal time allows you to let your body tell you when you have had enough food.

NewDad24

From what I have seen in Asia, the "cultural pressure" that has been referred to is more like helpful observations from other women about a woman that is gaining weight. It is not so much a pressure to conform, but more like a friendly reminder, from someone who cares, so that a woman would not have overweight problems causing her to miss out on marriage, relationships, jobs, etc.

In France you could have an 11-course meal with plenty of time for chit-chat. About the time that meal is over, it would be time to start the next meal. Simply having more time to eat is not necessarily going to mean eating less. Though I get the meaning that less hurried eating does generally lead to less consumption.

I think I may have answered my own question from the OP. I had tried to separate the higher level of exercise of Japanese people from Americans and then concentrate only on why would Japanese choose to consume fewer calories on average. I was wondering why would Japanese be satisfied with eating less. What might make Japanese less hungry? I neglected the possibility that exercise itself can have an effect on appetite. Some studies do suggest that exercise does reduce appetite at least during the exercise period.