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.
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.
In both Japan and Netherlands cases- BAD research...
hey, guess what; theres this thing called "the rest of the planet"
and it means that people not from america are reading the article.