16 June, 2008

Overweight in Japan?

Hide. The Seattle Times reports:

Japan, a country not known for its overweight people, has undertaken one of the most ambitious campaigns ever by a nation to slim down its citizenry.

[...]

Under a national law that came into effect two months ago, companies and local governments must measure the waistlines of Japanese people ages 40 to 74 as part of their annual checkups. That represents more than 56 million waistlines, or about 44 percent of the population.

Those exceeding government limits — 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women, which are similar to thresholds established in 2005 for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as an easy guideline for identifying health risks — and suffering from a weight-related ailment will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight.

Immense Mommy-Daddy-ness. What the Japanese government is effectively saying here is that the adults who have voted it into power don’t have the ability to make decisions about their own lives, and the government must goad them in the right direction. What if someone doesn’t mind being overweight, and considers the extra hamburgers worthwhile? How patronising is it for the government to try and change his behaviour, as if he is a chubby little baby who must be looked after?

But what I find even more bizarre is that the Japanese are worrying about being overweight. It reminds of an old joke about a Japanese businessmen who, when asked why he likes Indian women, says, “Oh, because they’re so three dimensional.” Before any Indian ministers start getting ideas from this, I’d request them to cast a glance downwards at their own, ahem, paunches.

(Link via email from Gautam John.)