Why Aren't Japanese People Fat?

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Replies

  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    They eat better and less food than we do
    They exercise more than we do, and use walking/public transportation way more (some companies have mandatory exercise hour in the morning)
    Its shameful on them to be fat and overweight

    All of which Americans do the opposite of.

    You missed the point if you still think they eat "better."
  • downsizinghoss
    downsizinghoss Posts: 1,035 Member
    It's not a mystery, really.

    - They traditionally eat a lot of fish and rice.
    - They don't eat a lot of wheat, bread, or sugar.
    - They have smaller portion sizes.

    There's your answer.

    (Though statistically, with the rise of sugared drinks in the country, the average weight has been rising... just like everywhere else).

    sorta skipped the whole thing there, didn't ya?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Good read....

    And you can extrapolate that out to other countries and regions as well. I'm reasonably well traveled and I can say that only the UK, in my experience, rivals the U.S. in portion size. Pretty much everywhere else I've ever been...and especially the Caribbean, Central America, and South American countries...you go out to eat or something and the portion is actually a portion...you get a serving. U.S. and UK seem to be about 2-3 servings equivalent on the plate.
  • LAW_714
    LAW_714 Posts: 258
    I'm going to assume you didn't even read the article.

    Was I 'required' to?

    (And was I wrong and it's NOT portion sizes and food choices? Are they supposedly magic?)

    ETA: Looked at article. It's a bunch of pictures taken in grocery stores. That's not exactly statistical breakdown of relative consumption of items. That's pictures in a grocery store showing that -- duh -- food items are available in Japan! (We all knew that, didn't we?)

    That doesn't tell you anything about the relative levels of consumption of a specific substance. There are actual studies that do.

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diets-of-world-japanese-diet
    http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=sugar consumption per capita in USA and Japan

    For example...

    Sugar Consumption Per Capita:
    U.S. - 152.1 lbs per person per year
    Japan - 66.78 lbs per person per year


    So, again, it's not a mystery.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    It's not a mystery, really.

    - They traditionally eat a lot of fish and rice.
    - They don't eat a lot of wheat, bread, or sugar.
    - They have smaller portion sizes.

    There's your answer.

    (Though statistically, with the rise of sugared drinks in the country, the average weight has been rising... just like everywhere else).

    Thank you for posting without reading the article.
  • downsizinghoss
    downsizinghoss Posts: 1,035 Member
    Also compression. They cram most of them on a subway everyday. It is like a communal wrap.
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
    Its a cultural thing. Among my friends, Asians are the only people who will greet me hello, and then in the same breath comment on how I'm getting fat. They don't say it to be rude like you'd expect, more that like 'hey you should be careful'.

    *source: I'm half Chinese*

    Yup, yup yup. And I will say that in Asian countries, it's a pain in the *kitten* to be fat. My aunt lives in Thailand and has hypothyroidism so she is something like an American size 18, maybe a 20. There are no stores that sell clothes that fit her so she has to have clothing custom made (like for her job, which requires a uniform) or she buys clothes here in America when she visits.
  • JaneDough_
    JaneDough_ Posts: 301 Member
    tumblr_lz6o1vfwB71rok92to1_400.gif


    They exercise with poodles.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I'm going to assume you didn't even read the article.

    Was I 'required' to?

    (And was I wrong and it's NOT portion sizes and food choices?)

    You weren't required to, but yes, you were wrong. That's how everyone knew you didn't read it.
  • larsensue
    larsensue Posts: 461 Member
    bump for later...
  • Melissa22G
    Melissa22G Posts: 847 Member
    tumblr_lz6o1vfwB71rok92to1_400.gif


    They exercise with poodles.

    I can't...stop....watching.....
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    Great food for thought.

    ETA: Love that the first photo he chose to show is of a famous Russian sumo wrestler.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    You missed the point if you still think they eat "better."

    Just because they sell all that stuff, doesn't mean the population is buying it like they would in other countries.. They are very aware of their image and their selves.. where as in other countries its a Go f*** yourself mentality... you may enjoy 2 -3 scoops of ice cream a day, but there you may have 1 scoop a week.. completely different.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    You missed the point if you still think they eat "better."

    Just because they sell all that stuff, doesn't mean the population is buying it like they would in other countries.. They are very aware of their image and their selves.. where as in other countries its a Go f*** yourself mentality... you may enjoy 2 -3 scoops of ice cream a day, but there you may have 1 scoop a week.. completely different.

    That is "less" not "better," which is the point of the article. Portion control and overall calorie restriction are the keys.
  • ngyoung
    ngyoung Posts: 311 Member
    Looks like the majority of the article is listing all the reasons recent reports are saying Japan is starting to get fatter.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    I'm going to assume you didn't even read the article.

    Was I 'required' to?

    (And was I wrong and it's NOT portion sizes and choices? Are they supposedly magic?)

    ETA: Looked at article. It's a bunch of pictures taken in grocery stores. That's not exactly statistical breakdown of relative consumption. That's pictures in a grocery store showing that -- duh -- food items are available in Japan (We all knew that, didn't we?)

    That doesn't tell you anything about the relative levels of consumption of a specific substance. There are actual studies that do.

    Are levels of consumption not the "how much" rather than the "what?"
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    There is no fat in there food

    :huh:

    You're never eaten Japanese food, I take it. Like mayo?
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Looks like the majority of the article is listing all the reasons recent reports are saying Japan is starting to get fatter.

    Spend time in Tokyo and you'll understand that "fatter" really means "less thin." I saw far more people in Tokyo that could be more readily described as anorexic than fat.

    I feel like the problem here is that there is so much misinformation regarding it being the "what" rather than the "how much" that people just cannot get over it very readily. For every "Super Size Me" there is the "Twinkie Diet." For every person pointing to the fact that the Japanese eating a diet of fish, there is someone like me pointing to white rice and their affinity for Kobe Beef. What I will say is that there is a strong social pressure to not be fat in Japan and it starts with mothers teaching their children to only eat until they are 80% full. If you are a woman and an American size 10 in Japan you will not find much in the way of clothing that fits you. And it is the same for men. All of my suits that I owned there were either purchased in Hong Kong or the U.S. or were custom made. That alone provides quite an incentive for many people to stop growing.
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
    don't forget their overcomplicated eating processes!

    4290954_o.gif
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    There is no fat in there food

    :huh:

    You're never eaten Japanese food, I take it. Like mayo?

    Kewpie mayo. The egg, sugar, MSG concoction that is on everything.

    Those grocery store photos are accurate to a tee. It's all about quantity there, not magical food that makes people thin.

    People just shame each other into eating less. They also don't have our height, muscle mass, or bone density. Osteoporosis is rampant. As is Rickets.
  • Jen800
    Jen800 Posts: 548 Member
    There is no fat in there food

    :huh: :laugh:

    Oh no...:noway:
  • stealthSLOTH
    stealthSLOTH Posts: 695 Member
    tumblr_lz6o1vfwB71rok92to1_400.gif


    They exercise with poodles.


    I thought I heard ' NOODLES, ' but even better - turns out you said POODLES!
    Where do I get calf-enhancing leg warmers like that?
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Well shoot eating with chopsticks alone is like an intense cardiac exercise. Try eating rice without breaking a sweat.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    "In general, Japanese people don’t like to stand out. Ignore the freaks hanging out in Harajuku at the weekend, this is the country where the group is more important than the individual."

    This quote also does not apply to Butoh Dancers.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    "In general, Japanese people don’t like to stand out. Ignore the freaks hanging out in Harajuku at the weekend, this is the country where the group is more important than the individual."

    This quote also does not apply to Butoh Dancers.

    I love Butoh and Harajuku and used to love hanging out among the crowd of kids in Shibuya and Harajuku on the weekends. It was really, really crowded though. Close to 50,000 people at any given moment would walk on the sidewalks between two train stations, less than a mile, on the weekends. It was one of my favorite Tokyo experiences. That, and the food. Delicious, delicious food.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    "In general, Japanese people don’t like to stand out. Ignore the freaks hanging out in Harajuku at the weekend, this is the country where the group is more important than the individual."

    This quote also does not apply to Butoh Dancers.

    I love Butoh and Harajuku and used to love hanging out among the crowd of kids in Shibuya and Harajuku on the weekends. It was really, really crowded though. Close to 50,000 people at any given moment would walk on the sidewalks between two train stations, less than a mile, on the weekends. It was one of my favorite Tokyo experiences. That, and the food. Delicious, delicious food.

    I danced with Eiko and Koma Otake when I was 17. I don't want to launch into a big story, but it was a really profound experience for me and for them as well. Butoh was a big influence on my dancing. It is very different from Harajuku, though.

    Edit to add; Koma asked me to dance with Eiko because he never saw her dance with a young women before. Eiko started crying after we danced and said I could have been her daughter.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Its a cultural thing. Among my friends, Asians are the only people who will greet me hello, and then in the same breath comment on how I'm getting fat. They don't say it to be rude like you'd expect, more that like 'hey you should be careful'.

    *source: I'm half Chinese*
    Have you never met an Italian or a Jew???
  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
    so, are Sumo wrestlers a figment of our imagination? or are they automatons?

    Yes. Don't you realise there is only ONE rigid definition of what a Japanese person can be? Shame on you for suggesting that Japanese people are anything other than thin and zen-like. :laugh:
  • Joocey
    Joocey Posts: 115 Member
    What I will say is that there is a strong social pressure to not be fat in Japan and it starts with mothers teaching their children to only eat until they are 80% full. If you are a woman and an American size 10 in Japan you will not find much in the way of clothing that fits you. And it is the same for men. All of my suits that I owned there were either purchased in Hong Kong or the U.S. or were custom made. That alone provides quite an incentive for many people to stop growing.

    Whereas in the U.S. it's more of a... "If you're fat you're beautiful and if you don't think fat people are beautiful then you're a degenerate waste of a human being who promotes anorexia" kind of thing. If you can't find clothing that fits you, it's because the clothing makers are perpetuating an unattainable ideal and you should definitely write a blog complaining about how Marilyn Monroe would be a size 14 today and maybe file a civil lawsuit.

    I mean, whatever. Society man.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    I'm going to assume you didn't even read the article.

    Was I 'required' to?

    (And was I wrong and it's NOT portion sizes and food choices? Are they supposedly magic?)

    ETA: Looked at article. It's a bunch of pictures taken in grocery stores. That's not exactly statistical breakdown of relative consumption of items. That's pictures in a grocery store showing that -- duh -- food items are available in Japan! (We all knew that, didn't we?)

    That doesn't tell you anything about the relative levels of consumption of a specific substance. There are actual studies that do.

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diets-of-world-japanese-diet
    http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=sugar consumption per capita in USA and Japan

    For example...

    Sugar Consumption Per Capita:
    U.S. - 152.1 lbs per person per year
    Japan - 66.78 lbs per person per year


    So, again, it's not a mystery.

    If you're going to comment on a topic, it is generally suggested that you know what the topic is about. Required? No but you run the chance of looking silly if you don't. And then you look even sillier defending your choice to not read the OP.

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