Only 3.6 percent of Japanese have a body mass index (BMI) over 30, which is the international standard for obesity, whereas 32.0 percent of Americans do. A total of 66.5 percent of Americans have a BMI over 25, making them overweight, but only 24.7 percent of Japanese.
However, there is one country that is a clear outlier. It occupies a lonely spot in the lower right-hand corner of the graph. Despite its high GDP, it has obesity levels equivalent to Afghanistan or Burkina Faso. That country is Japan.
Food prices are substantially higher in Japan, but the traditional Japanese dietary habits, although changing, are also healthier. The Japanese are also far more physically active than Americans, but not because they do more planned physical exercise. They walk more as part of their daily lives.
After reviewing data from more than 2.8 million Americans, including 71,000 Asian Americans, researchers found that 11% of Asian Americans are obese, based on standard body mass index (BMI) calculations.
To decide if a person is fat or obese, one must calculate their size, body type, and age. Anyone with a BMI of 22kgs/m2 and above is considered fat in Japan. Women in Japan consider themselves overweight if their BMI is above 23kgs/m2. On the other hand, the Japanese say their men are fat if their BMI exceeds 25kg/m2.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the most obese countries are primarily located in the Pacific and the Middle East. The Pacific island nations of Nauru, Cook Islands, and Palau have the highest rates of obesity, with over 30% of their populations being classified as obese.
On the other hand, 14.5% of fifth grade boys were obese, up 1.4 points from the academic 2021 survey, as were 9.8% of fifth grade girls, up 1 point. Regarding middle schoolers, second-year boys had a 11.4% obesity rate, up 1.4 points.
The highest number of obese children lives in China (>28 million), followed by the United States of America (>13 million), India (>7.5 million), Brazil (>5.2 million) and Mexico (>5.1 million).
A record 29 percent of those in their 20s are underweight, according to a recent government survey. Those with a body mass index of less than 18.5 percent are considered underweight by Japanese standards.
In Australia, currently 63.4 per cent of adults and 24 per cent of children are considered overweight or obese. The World Obesity Federation projects 51 per cent of the global population will be overweight or obese by 2035.
Media Release - 16 November 2020
Aussie men are the second most obese in OECD countries - Aussie men have the second highest rates of obesity (32%) among 23 OECD countries, behind the USA (38%). Aussie women fared better than men but are still obese at a higher rate than the OECD average.
Are Japanese People Short and Slim? Let's Ask the Numbers! The average height of 17-year old Japanese men is 170.7cm (5'7”) and 157.8cm (5'2”) for women. When it comes to weight, men weigh in with 62.5kg (138lbs) and women with 52.9kg (117lbs).
However, in 1998, esthetician Takano Yuri pushed a formula of h2 * 20 * 0.9, which is closer to a BMI of 18. One's weight as measured by this standard eventually became known as one's “Cinderella Weight” (シンデレラ体重; shinderera taijuu) in Internet slang.
Compared to Caucasians and African-Americans, Asians generally display lower levels of physical activity and are less likely to meet daily-recommended requirements for physical exercise [50–59]. Reduced physical activity in the Asian population may contribute to greater abdominal fat deposition.
Table 1 shows that, overall, non-Hispanic Blacks were most likely to be obese (prevalence was 36.1%), followed by Hispanics (28.7%), non-Hispanic Whites (24.5%), and non-Hispanic Asians (7.1%). Mean BMI values for the groups were 28.6, 27.7, 26.9, and 24.0, respectively.
Compared to Whites, being Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese were associated with a lower prevalence of obesity. Among Asians, compared to Chinese, being Japanese and being Filipino were associated with higher prevalence of obesity.
While Japanese people eat rice daily. It is an essential food for most of their meals. Plus, it is cooked without butter or salt, so Japanese people are able to keep their slim figures. The Japanese diet mostly avoids junk foods and high-calorie.
It's a combination of the walking, biking, eating smaller portions, and eating more seafood and veggies, that leads to the Japanese being pretty darn healthy in general. Any one of these changes would be a big improvement for most of us in America.
As their diet is traditionally high in soy and fish this may also play a significant role in reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. The Japanese also have the lowest rates of obesity among men and women as well as long life expectancy.
While temples and shrines aren't as strict in Japan as other places in Asia, it's still of the utmost importance to avoid revealing or unseemly clothing. Women should avoid wearing tops that expose their shoulders or chest.
Currently, the average number of new onset anorexic sufferers in developed countries is five to seven in every 100,000, and it is evaluated to be the same for Japan. It might seem like a small number, but this means Tokyo alone has 600 to 800 new anorexic patients every year.