You know, it’s true, how bizarre that I remembered it so wrongly.
Anyhoo, my strongest suspicion concerning the Japanese is that it’s all genetics. They do have some very healthy habits, but then they also have their fried food, pork bellies, and alcohol which would seem to cancel one another out.
Not so. See above (~post 6 or so).
It’s not like people of Japanese descent are limited to Japan. We’ve got plenty of ethnic Japanese and their descendents in the US, mostly in California and Hawaii. Jumping straight to genetics as a just-so story might be ok if there weren’t any data, but we have data, and it contradicts genetics as a primary explanation.
After a couple generations, obesity and heart disease wise they’re more or less average Americans than average Japanese. In fact, the effect takes a few generations. Immigrants are closer to their native populations. Their children have higher rates of obesity and heart disease. Their grand children even more. It just requires fully assimilating into the local culture (food, exercise, childhood environment, etc).
Stress may well be a factor causing people to eat less, too.
[QUOTE=Article]
Ayumi Ito considers herself one of the lucky ones. She works for a relatively open-minded company — meaning she has to put her toddler, Saki, in day care for only 11 hours a day. Sure, she had to tour more than 40 child-care centers to find her daughter a slot, but eventually she succeeded.
Plus, her husband has cut back on his hours. Although he leaves their apartment at 7:30 most mornings, he is usually home by 1 a.m.
[/QUOTE]
Ethnic Japanese get obesity related diseases at lower BMIs
IOW, Westerners can afford to get fatter than E. Asians before the big risks set in.
I’d like to update my opinion with something I just found: La Farfa, a Japanese magazine for plus-size women. (Work warning: Models in bikinis!)
It’s been published since 2013 (Japan Times article here). So it would appear that at least some Japanese media is reflecting (and in this case, catering to) larger women.
I believe this is true for Asians generally: the NHS targetsBritish Asians accordingly (scroll down to ‘at risk groups’).
[QUOTE=iljitsch]
2. Exercise is rather questionable as a weight loss method
[/QUOTE]
Joining the gym or hiring a personal trainer, maybe. I can’t believe that levels of day-to-day activity don’t influence obesity rates.
As for Asians in general, I’ve seen Thais grow fatter and fatter over the years. I can never go out in Bangkok without seeing a bunch of them American-fat now. That was almost impossible not that long ago.