3% obesity rate in Japan

[Alexop]

All the nutrition debate nonsense in the west makes me mad.

We have the statistics: 3% obesity rate in Japan vs. over 30% in the west(Europe and US)

I am curious to hear somebody who lived many years in Japan and what is the food culture there. I believe that they eat mostly rice and veggies instead of wheat products, and less sugar in order to be in so good shape, not counting calories hahah.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Alexop

[undeather]

The average person in Japan consumes over 200 fewer calories per day than the average American. 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. They walk more because the cost of driving an automobile is far higher in Japan, whereas public transportation is typically very convenient, but normally requires more walking than the use of a car.

Despite the obesity rate being low, data is showing that the prevalence of overweight (BMI > or = 25) was 30.4% in males and 21.1% in females, of which overweight in males has increased in recent 35 years almost twice from 15% to 30%. In general Japanese people get fatter now because they adapt western eating habits.

Edited November 22, 2023 by undeather

[Alexop]

3 hours ago, undeather said:

 

Despite the obesity rate being low, data is showing that the prevalence of overweight (BMI > or = 25) was 30.4% in males and 21.1% in females, of which overweight in males has increased in recent 35 years almost twice from 15% to 30%. In general Japanese people get fatter now because they adapt western eating habits.

yess, I heard that they eat KFC for Christmas now. You can see how a stupid company brainwashed a whole country and changed the culture with some basic advertisements.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Alexop

[Basman]

• The general diet is high in veggies and fish and low in sugar and fat. There are more foods that are conventionally "healthy" in Japanese cuisine compared to American.
• They tend to eat smaller portions and don't overeat.
• Infrastructure is built to facilitate walking. Japanese walk a lot and amenities are often close by with an effective public transport system.
• Mandatory yearly health checks for employed people. Culture pushes people to change their behavior.
• It is safe (less stress).
• Genetics.

[Leo Gura]

45% obesity in Qatar.

[Raze]

 

[Alexop]

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

45% obesity in Qatar.

Yes! middle east same problems.

[Alexop]

I had a chinese client at massage, she said whenever she comes to stay in Europe, she becomes fat, and when she returns, she loses weight like magic. Culture influences us a lot, instead of changing the food culture, we gaslight people into believing it is all their fault.

[sholomar]

The problem is not wheat, it's hot pockets, french fries, fried chicken, pizza, potato chips, crackers, donuts, twinkies, soda, ice cream, and other calorie dense, dopamine stimulating foods. Basically processed foods. They are calorie dense and cause people to pack on pounds when they go out drinking which is another source of calories.

We have more pizza places in my town than any other business. Second place for some reason is always auto parts stores, followed by subways. Average foot long sub has 1200 calories. I can make 3 eggs on 4 pieces of bread with low carb jelly and it's around 450 calories for that meal. Calories in, calories out, day after day. 3500 calories equals one pound of fat.

Edited November 23, 2023 by sholomar

[Alexop]

20 minutes ago, sholomar said:

The problem is not wheat, it's hot pockets, french fries, fried chicken, pizza, potato chips, crackers, donuts, twinkies, soda, ice cream, and other calorie dense, dopamine stimulating foods. Basically processed foods. They are calorie dense and cause people to pack on pounds when they go out drinking which is another source of calories.

We have more pizza places in my town than any other business. Second place for some reason is always auto parts stores, followed by subways. Average foot long sub has 1200 calories. I can make 3 eggs on 4 pieces of bread with low carb jelly and it's around 450 calories for that meal. Calories in, calories out, day after day. 3500 calories equals one pound of fat.

Read books about diabetes and obesity. My grandma's generation ate virtually no junk food and still got fat, because of eating bread and occasionally sugar. 

[Schizophonia]

I can sense the anti wheat, sugar and fat brainwashing in your way of thinking about things lol.
Well the majority of people eat this regularly where I grew up and I saw very few obese people in middle school/high school and that's still the case today. And the only Japanese/Korean people I met had quite low muscle mass and seemed "slow", so I would personally avoid eating like them.

[undeather]

30 minutes ago, Alexop said:

Read books about diabetes and obesity. My grandma's generation ate virtually no junk food and still got fat, because of eating bread and occasionally sugar. 

The complex pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity can not be boiled down to "eating bread and occasionally sugar".
The increasing rates of obesity are mostly the product of a hypercaloric food environment that promotes overeating on low-quality, undersatiating & hyponutritious foods while living a mostly sedentary lifestyle. The increasing rates of diabetes and other metabolic diseases (i.e hyperlipoproteinemia, high blood pressure) are for a big part due to this energy-dysbalance. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by undeather

[Leo Gura]

What matters is calorie density and even taste. When food tastes too good you end up eating too much of it. It's hard to make low calorie whole food taste so good you eat 3x the amount of it.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Alexop]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

What matters is calorie density and even taste. When food tastes too good you end up eating too much of it. It's hard to make low calorie whole food taste so good you eat 3x the amount of it.

word.

 

3 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

I can sense the anti wheat, sugar and fat brainwashing in your way of thinking about things lol.
Well the majority of people eat this regularly where I grew up and I saw very few obese people in middle school/high school and that's still the case today. And the only Japanese/Korean people I met had quite low muscle mass and seemed "slow", so I would personally avoid eating like them.

ok, no point in arguing with you. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Alexop

[Schizophonia]

18 minutes ago, Alexop said:

word.

 

ok, no point in arguing with you. 

lol.

L'hôpital qui se fout de la charité. 

[Alexop]

4 hours ago, undeather said:

The complex pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity can not be boiled down to "eating bread and occasionally sugar".
The increasing rates of obesity are mostly the product of a hypercaloric food environment that promotes overeating on low-quality, undersatiating & hyponutritious foods while living a mostly sedentary lifestyle. The increasing rates of diabetes and other metabolic diseases (i.e hyperlipoproteinemia, high blood pressure) are for a big part due to this energy-dysbalance. 

Yes, and wheat products are so cheap and taste so good that people will eat like crazy, I saw my gandfather eating half kg of bread at one meal. You just take a warm bread in your hands and keep eating.

In Romania we even have a saying: It sells like warm bread.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Alexop

[undeather]

11 hours ago, Alexop said:

Yes, and wheat products are so cheap and taste so good that people will eat like crazy, I saw my gandfather eating half kg of bread at one meal. You just take a warm bread in your hands and keep eating.

In Romania we even have a saying: It sells like warm bread.

Again, obesity and diabetes are complex phenomena and wheat products play a role in it. 
People usually don't get fat because they overeat on pasta or white-bread. They get fat because they overconsume meals which are combinations of simple carbohydrates, high fat, high salt and some form of modified protein (Burger, Kepab, Fried meats, Lasagna, Soft drinks, Pizza...)

Whole grain wheat products actually lower obesity rates. 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by undeather

[LSD-Rumi]

@undeather What does the Y axis, represents in those diagrams?

[PurpleTree]

In my „western“ country around 11%

[PurpleTree]

12 hours ago, Alexop said:

In Romania we even have a saying: It sells like warm bread.

I think that saying is in most countries 

although in english it‘s „hot cakes“