being fat in Japan

haha, imagine that happening in the west, be great ot have one more excuse to lose weight!

hm, I sometimes do wonder about what pressures for being thin works. Whatever we're doing here is obviously not working, since obesity is still rising or perhaps it's because of the rampant fast food places and other factors that make unhealthy calorie dense food more appealing. What is viewed as normal weight here is viewed as fat in some other countries. At 5'3" and 138, I'm pretty sure my mom's home country would view that as obese in all honesty.

I just viewed your link. Wow, I didn't think they looked overweight at all.

If my company were facing millions in fines and a raise in health premiums I could defiantly get behind this. A raise to them means a raise to the employee and less money in everyone's pocket. And if the company can't afford it? Then jobs would be lost so they could. I would do it happily, and if the company is the on e facing the troubles than they should be the ones to help with the changes. I mean, take a way some fast food restaurants and that doesn't do much except send people other places to get lunch. Tell them their jobs and health care could be effected and to eat healthier AT work and that might get the message across to cross it over to other parts of their life.

asian bodies are smaller in general, in comparison to us americans. we're taller, and overall our measurements are naturally a few inches more. not just due to fat, but because of our bones. our ring sizes, shoe size, hat size, etc..are all generally bigger. so if that system were in place, i doubt many of us would fit in the 35 inches or less category.

but that's pretty much where the excuses for us stop. our traditional american meal is usually full of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, casseroles, etc. stuff our grandmas used to make definitely did not total to 600 calories a meal lol

these days we chalk up our waistlines to our stressful jobs, marriage, having children, getting older, and not having enough time to work out, etc. god forbid you tell an american woman who had a kid, that she needs to lose weight or lose her job. you'll have everyone screaming unfair sexism. it's just become culturally acceptable to be overweight. it's rude to mention someone's weight, it's considered shallow not to date a woman because she's thick, and definitely not acceptable to not give someone a job because they're overweight. so i seriously doubt we will have someone in our company measuring waistlines anytime soon...

but! we can definitely take some of their good ideas. i'm sure alot of people who work in an office would relish the opportunity to stand up from their work twice a day and stretch, and take some relaxing deep breaths. socially speaking, it makes for a far more productive and friendly work enviornment! i've also heard they do a morning stretch in their classrooms to help the kid's improved brain function. definitely an easy addition that could have great results if we made it a country-wide practice.

I can sort of see something like this happening here as national health care broadens. Companies could be charged more for premiums for having overweight employees, kind of like higher premiums for smokers is becoming the norm. I could see us having to step on the scale just like we already may have to pee in a cup.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-food-costs-idUSTRE7734L620110804

"Eating healthier food can add almost 10 percent to the average American's food bill -- and that is just to boost a single nutrient like potassium."

Fix the fact that unhealthy, fattening foods cost less than healthy foods for starters. Then go from there. If regular Americans can't afford to eat healthy, no program in the world is going to change that except programs that lower the cost of healthy food.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-food-costs-idUSTRE7734L620110804

"Eating healthier food can add almost 10 percent to the average American's food bill -- and that is just to boost a single nutrient like potassium."

Fix the fact that unhealthy, fattening foods cost less than healthy foods for starters. Then go from there. If regular Americans can't afford to eat healthy, no program in the world is going to change that except programs that lower the cost of healthy food.

whats to fix? bad fatty meat is going to cost less than lean meat for example. you can't "fix" that.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-food-costs-idUSTRE7734L620110804

"Eating healthier food can add almost 10 percent to the average American's food bill -- and that is just to boost a single nutrient like potassium."

Fix the fact that unhealthy, fattening foods cost less than healthy foods for starters. Then go from there. If regular Americans can't afford to eat healthy, no program in the world is going to change that except programs that lower the cost of healthy food.

whats to fix? bad fatty meat is going to cost less than lean meat for example. you can't "fix" that.

the article isnt talking about lean meat vs fatty meat.. its talking about foods that would add more potassium, vitamin d, and other nutrients to your diet. fruits and vegetables vs boxed/canned/processed stuff

"Fix the fact that unhealthy, fattening foods cost less than healthy foods for starters." thats what i was responding to.

the article isnt talking about lean meat vs fatty meat.. its talking about foods that would add more potassium, vitamin d, and other nutrients to your diet. fruits and vegetables vs boxed/canned/processed stuff

"Fix the fact that unhealthy, fattening foods cost less than healthy foods for starters." thats what i was responding to.

so boxed/canned/processed isnt unhealthy and fattening, compared to fresh fruits and veggies?
not trying to argue here - just pointing out that fatty vs lean meat isnt the only change that people need to make to eat healthier. its more expensive to buy enough produce and whole foods to feed a family than it is to buy some hamburger helper and ground beef

where did i say boxed/canned/ processed isnt unhealthy and fattening compared to fruits and vegetables? fat vs lean meat was one example. i didnt say it was the only thing to be concerned about. you seem to be confused.

where did i say boxed/canned/ processed isnt unhealthy and fattening compared to fruits and vegetables? fat vs lean meat was one example. i didnt say it was the only thing to be concerned about. you seem to be confused.

im not confused at all.
other than maybe why fatty vs lean meat was the only thing you brought up when theres obviously bigger issues.
you asked what needed to be "fixed" - i gave a useful example.

you are clearly confused when you say "so boxed/canned/processed isnt unhealthy and fattening, compared to fresh fruits and veggies? " because nowhere did i imply that. not sure what your issue is or why you feel like you need to go on like this. lets just agree to disagree. /shrug

The people in Japan eat much more sodium, and have an increased risk of hemorrhagic strokes. We, however, our fattter. Our blubber gives us an increased risk of diabetes heart attacks, blockages, and cancer.

I know of an insurance company that covers a major Georgia company. It is charging workers (including any dependants) that smoke 20% more on premiums. The insurance company also requires an annual physical. If the worker and all dependants missed their physical, the bill increases by 15%. In the physical, the insurance company had the physician's offices take BMI and waist size, as well as a good blood work-up.

You can fix it with price controls, as long as you're willing to ignore the howls from various sectors that profit from not having price controls.

Well, as long as you don't live in a capitalist system (and I'm not counting China since they have a thriving capitalist system, they do social controls, not price controls at this point). Iran has price controls and 70% unemployment. Even when there was a rice shortage China & India did not do price controls and the rice went back down to normal price levels. Price controls in Cuba don't work because there's a thriving black market for goods and services.

i Iive in japan and the people are not thinner because of the food or genetics LOL...i am pretty certain anorexia is extremely common here ^^ in hong kong, for instance, women will eat tape worms to lose weight...here they have 0 calorie jelly "meals" at every grocery or convenience store. In thailand (i think it is) women get botox on their legs to make them thinner...

i am 4'10" and when i came here i was 100 pounds -- thin in the u.s. but fat here. ^^ i am currently 95 and still considered fat.

before i came here, i understood that japanese are thin...but it is much different in reality...basically a bmi over 18.5 is fat.

so...the ppl getting punished by this law are...considered the morbidly obese of america (but on japanese terms).

i could go on and on...but really there are a lot of unnaturally thin ppl here...and I'm positive its because a lot of ppl here are obsessed with diets and women compete to be the thinnest (and a lot of men here find very thin attractive) ^^ ok thats all~