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Big in Japan? You're Breaking the Law!

By Alex in Crime & Law on Nov 12, 2009 at 2:53 pm


Are you fat? Be thankful that you’re in the United States. If you were in Japan, you’d be breaking the law:

In Japan, being thin isn’t just the price you pay for fashion or social acceptance. It’s the law. [...]

In Japan, already the slimmest industrialized nation, people are fighting fat to ward off dreaded metabolic syndrome and comply with a government-imposed waistline standard. Metabolic syndrome, known here simply as “metabo,” is a combination of health risks, including stomach flab, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Concerned about rising rates of both in a graying nation, Japanese lawmakers last year set a maximum waistline size for anyone age 40 and older: 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) for men and 90 centimeters (35.4 inches) for women.

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COMMENT
  1. Morgan
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    Hmmmmm, a law that forces people to be thin? Actually kind of seems like a good idea.....maybe. I wonder if they offer free weight loss programs. Jenny Craig worked wonders for me but cost an arm and a leg, and after having a child, its virtually impossible for me to afford it again.

  2. pianoarthur
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

    Visit Japan? Go to Jail.

  3. Zavatone
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    Read the comments for the article. Most people say it's pure BS and that the title is completely false.

  4. Woogie
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    These people need to read about the obesity paradox and then STFU.

  5. AnthonyC
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    Does the law distinguish among various ethnic and racial backgrounds, or does it simply assume everyone in Japan has the build of a typical Japanese person? Because a 6'6" white guy with a 33" waist is probably not healthy, law or no law.

    I'm average height for an American, and not 40 years old, but by all accounts and measures I'm a normal, healthy weight for my height- with a 34" waist.

  6. Sid Morrison
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    So the women can have BIGGER waistlines? How whack is that?

  7. ilandrah
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    Why do women have more of an allowance under these guidelines then men? Men tend to have larger frames and should therefore have a larger waists. (?)
    I am not against the idea of introducing obese people to the resources to lose weight and become healthier, but surely the indicator would be the body mass index rather than the somewhat more arbitrary waist measurement.
    As noted by doctors in the article, we are in danger of dealing over strongly with the apparent epidemic of obesity and teaching our youth that thinner is better to the point where anorexia and malnutrition will become more prominent.

  8. cwillgo
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    I'm guessing females are given allowance because the pelvis of males and females have different dimensions. The female pelvis is (proportionally) wider and broader to allow for childbirth.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelvis#Sexual_dimorphism

  9. edce
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    "Are you fat? Be thankful that you’re in the United States. If you were in Japan, you’d be breaking the law:"

    hey, guess what; theres this thing called "the rest of the planet"
    and it means that people not from america are reading the article.

  10. pwscott
    Nov 12th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    Yes Mr. Waits, you ARE big in Japan.

  11. Foreigner1
    Nov 13th, 2009 at 5:19 am

    This is the same Bull like stating that in The Netherlands, everybody smokes dope because it is legal...

    In both Japan and Netherlands cases- BAD research...

  12. HollywoodBob
    Nov 13th, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    @ilandrah:

    Waist measurements(for any particular height) would be much better than a weight or BMI measurement because neither of those account for things like bone density or muscle mass.

  13. Maeveone
    Nov 19th, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    And waist measurements wouldn't match up with women's different body types either. Many women just put on weight on their stomach.

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