Posted on 11/12/2009 2:53:59 AM PST by paudio
As the health care debate rages in the US, Tokyo lawmakers set a maximum waist size. Are you too fat for Japan?
So before the fat police could throw her in pudgy purgatory, Miki Yabe, 39, a manager at a major transportation corporation, went on a crash diet last month. In the week before her company’s annual health check-up, Yabe ate 21 consecutive meals of vegetable soup and hit the gym for 30 minutes a day of running and swimming.
“It’s scary,” said Yabe, who is 5 feet 3 inches and 133 pounds. “I gained 2 kilos [4.5 pounds] this year.”
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at globalpost.com ...
Japanese food is so DAMNED good for you, and yet, Government Control SUCKS. ;-(
Read the comments on this story. They say it a lot better than I could.
They’re screaming that the government hasn’t really made it illegal to be fat. Here’s the thing, though: If too many people in a company are fat, the company has to pay a fine. This means if you are an executive, the company might find you too valuable to worry about you. It may also mean that the company finds you a bad example. But if you are lower down the food chain, you may become unemployable. All other things being equal, who will hire the fat guy? How will the fat guy get a job interview?
Coming to a “free” clinic near you....
Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness? I don’t think the current powers that be have the slightest clue.
So are other negative lifestyle choices equally punished? My guess is no.
Of course not.
Fat people are easy targets. They pay higher than average healthcare costs (only important if taxpayers foot the bill), PETA and environmental groups want fatties to stop eating animals, etc. Too many special interests with agendas.
Special interests protect gays with anal sex, so we have to foot the bill for their risky behavior. Special interests promote abortion since it is a “threat” to young women. Etc, etc.
Try being a smoker, we've been punished for years, it's accepted and mainstream, not a peep...'fatties' are next, wonder which group will follow...DNA gene challenged? 'Oh look, you are predisposed for cancer or alzheimer's , can't hire you.....'
The height restriction in North Korea seems to be working...
“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.”
The women’s max is larger than men’s under this law?
I havent’ had a 33 inch waist since I was about 28 years old. I guess moving to Japan is out of the question.
They will be in the U.S. when the nanny-state liberals get Obama-crap care made law. There will be prohibited behaviors that people will be fined for such as skiing, motorcycle riding, bull riding, skydiving.
You don't expect the U.S. taxpayer to subsidize your healthcare for mountain climbing or football playing do you?
And you need to just sign the affidavit saying you never run with scissors too.
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