After US, Japan Struggles with Obesity Now
The surprising fact that has come to the forefront is that after USA , the next developed nation to have been caught in the grip of obesity is Japan . It is no more fish and tofu for an average Japanese person. Junk and fast food stuff has become the contemporary taste of the Japanese people. Noodles, fried meat, and kind of fast food is gobbled up by a Japanese youngster, soon paving his way to obesity.
Japan is the only country with the highest life span of its population in the world. An average Japanese woman stays alive till the age of 86 and the life span for an average Japanese man also stands high at 79 years of age and thus Japan takes pride in being the only nation with such longevity rates of her people. But soon Japan may not remain same with people of high life spans. This is so because the increasing number of obese people means higher health risks and lower life spans. The situation is such that now even Japanese children need to enroll themselves for fitness programs to shed their excess flab. Some feel that if the situation remains like this then it would surely jeopardize Japan 's status as a nation with the highest life span. If the eating habits do not change then it could make Japanese overpowered by cardiovascular diseases and other kinds of dangerous health risks.
Although the situation of Japanese people is not as alarming as the Americans, yet there has been a considerable increase in the number of obese Japanese people. Alarmed by the trend, the government released a new nutrition chart recently that encourages eating more carbohydrates _ such as rice _ and vegetables as main sources of energy, while cutting down on meat to reduce the intake of fat.
Source: Associated Press, February 15, 2006 |
