In the UK, this is the height of the tourist season, and once again, I am struck by how the Japanese visitors are always incredibly slim and trim, in sharp contradistinction to the tourists of Caucasian origin, many of whom (both male and female ) sport bellies which cry out for the attentions of a personal trainer.
My question is whether this is genetic or environmental . Is the trim physique of the Japanese down to different dietary habits, or is it an inherited racial characteristic ?
When the Japanese really really try to put weight on, they can do it, as evidenced by the impressive physiques of the champion Sumo wrestlers, but my understanding is that when these wrestlers retire, they shed the excess weight rapidly in a matter of weeks or months, and quickly revert to a normal physique.
The Brits shouldn’t be pointing at the bellies of tourists, as they themselves are the most overweight nation in Europe (ignoring Iceland and Malta)
Exercise is rather questionable as a weight loss method
I recently became aware of the food palatability theory of obesity: people are heavy because they can’t resist highly rewarding food. I guess rice, whale and seaweed are less palatable than whatever it is we tend to eat in Europe these days.
For example, Japanese Americans in California or Hawaii. First and second generation Japanese immigrants have higher BMI and rates of heart disease than their counterparts in Japan. Maybe still lower than people without recent immigrant ancestors, but that looks to be attributable in part due to maintaining at least some aspects of their traditional diets.
This isn’t true for just the Japanese but all immigrants to the US. Differences in lifestyle (car culture) and diet (more fat) affect pretty much every human being. After a few generations, there’s not much difference, obesity wise. Of course, in the mainland US, there just aren’t that many 3rd or beyond generation Asian Americans, even in places like California. Outnumbered by more recent immigrants and their children.
The Japanese Ministry of Health is also a **lot **more…proactive when it comes to combating obesity (or ‘metabo’ as it is referred to), along with other factors like more expensive food resulting in less consumption and what is consumed being healthier, along with more people walking and less automobile use.
*“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.”*http://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/umrfwp/14321.html
According to the CIA World Factbook, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Malta, Hungary, and Lithuania have higher obesity rates than the UK. Iceland is much lower.
The lowest countries in Europe are France and Switzerland, despite a traditional diet high in butter and cheese.
Japan at #157 is in fact the lowest developed country on the list. It’s in fact lower than many Third World countries where actual hunger is prevalent. (It’s no mystery why countries like Eritrea, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Ethiopia might be the lowest.)
Here are a few anecdotes that may or may not help.
When I lived in Japan, I lost 1kg per month for the first six months until my weight stabilised. When I returned to Ireland, I regained all the weight within a few months.
When Japanese colleagues were posted overseas (especially to the US), they became noticeably fatter within 6 to 12 months.
Based on these and similar observations, I believe lifestyle factors are key. Living in a Japanese city, you typically walk, cycle or take public transport rather than driving. There isn’t much opportunity for snacking during the working day. Most meals contain rice, which is very filling. Canned coffee is a very popular beverage from vending machines, and is less calorific than sugary drinks. Children walk or cycle to school from an early age.
Since I believe the most important points have already been raised (essentially, we eat less, and better quality food in Japan), I’ll just make the obligatory nitpicks.
Actually, it’s 28 Mongolians, 1 American, 1 Brazilian, 3 Chinese, 2 Russians, 2 Georgians, 1 Czech, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Kazakh, 1 Hungarian and 1 Egyptian. The era of Hawaiian and Samoan wrestlers is over.
Not sure if serious, but just in case, whale hasn’t been a staple since the 60s. The amount of whale meat eaten here is so negligible it doesn’t even register in the statistics. Chicken is the most popular meat, followed by pork.
The Japanese also smoke almost twice as much per capita as Americans (roughly 1800 cigarettes/year vs 1000), and nicotine is of course an appetite suppressant.
Living in china right now (ETA: which compares similarly to the West as Japan on this).
Yeah I’d say lifestyle factors are very important; they don’t have the huge portion sizes as the US, eat less dairy and more fish and vegetables (though the vegetables are usually cooked to buggery).
But there’s no doubt in my mind that there are physiological differences. Just as we can say on average chinese people are shorter than, say, americans, so I think we can say they are slimmer.
And in terms of appearance, the fat distributes differently too IME. A western man who gets a little overweight may show it on his abdomen, face and butt. Chinese guys often just pad out everywhere, and you hardly notice if someone’s limbs are slightly thicker than average.
As in china. So yet more anomalies for “carbs are bad”.
As the OP probably didn’t feel the need to point out, most tourists in the UK are British enjoying a staycation. Nowhere did the OP imply that Brits are svelt. We are quite aware of our obesity epidemic, thank you.
Are you seriously suggesting that a sedentary lifestyle doesn’t contribute to weight gain?
