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God i wish we had this in america

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html?no_interstitial

i mean obviously i would like something a bit more rational but seriously

average caucasian-american male waist line is 39 INCHES!!!!!

hmmmmm I think the opposite problem exists in Los Angeles. I think people need to eat more and look less like Sigourney Weaver in the movie Aliens. P.S. I love fat people.

Do not hate on the fat man because there is more of him to love

Funny... from a country that worships Sumo wrestlers

I think PSA's warning people about the risks of being fat doesn't hurt
but just as an aside
airlines are starting to charge extra for fat people

GQjock said
airlines are starting to charge extra for fat people

Omg I have an 11 hour flight in a couples months. If I'm sitting next to a fat person I'm going to straight up tell them that if their fat crosses arm-rest over onto my seat then I'm using it as a pillow.

I can't stand control freaks, especially hypocritical ones. If pregnant women choosing to murder their babies is OK, so is choosing to have an extra helping of mashed potatoes.

Seems that this would only encourage eating disorders. A nation of men and women that are purging their food to be at a prescribed weight could only drive the health costs up. Seems like a story straight out of the National Enquirer.

And not to mention psychological damage to a person's self-esteem and body image perception. Yes, I'm all for educating people about the risks of being overweight, but to make it a national guideline and enforce that on the population is somewhat extreme.

god am i the only person who thinks highly of a national campaign to promote health standards.

big lols on the sumo wrestling comment.

I personally hate it when im on public transportation and i have to suffer because of fat people (don't tell me its not fair for them ive never met any overweight person who ever ever put as much effort into their diet as i do).

not making fat people work out and eat right is like not having a kid with a speech impediment take speach therapy.

personally i think their self confidence will improve substantially.

Good thing Asians are always so petite.

carthesis saidgod am i the only person who thinks highly of a national campaign to promote health standards.
I personally hate it when im on public transportation and i have to suffer because of fat people.

WHOA! Promoting and forcing are two different things!! And exactly, what suffering does someone else being fat inflict on you? Is it because when they sit next to you on the bus they seem to tower over you? Lol, if they accidently sit on your leg, just wiggle about until they finally feel it or you free yourself.

ugh no its being squished between to sweaty fat people on the bus because they're so overweight. And whats wrong with forcing overweight people to work out and eat right. They're a potential future burden on the health care system.

The American average of 39 inches does seem a little high. One thing you need to remember though is the pant size is not your waist size. I wear 34 pants, my waist is 37". I think that's pretty good considering I'm a tall guy with fairly big bones.

What they should do is put rules on restaurants and grocery products if they want to help the people. When states started to ban trans fat, that's a good step in the right direction.

Finding a way to encourage people to walk more, take the stairs rather than the elevator would also be a great way to slim down a population.

Carthesis, I'll overlook the fact that you are stereotyping all fat people as sweaty and lazy, that isn't right and is a misconception.

But this is America and people have rights here. They have the right to eat as much as they want, exercise as little as they want, and become as sick as they want. You try to stop them and WHERE DOES IT STOP? Some people would say your being gay is a future burden to the Health Care System because (not that it's true) many believe we spread AIDS the most.

What's to stop them from telling you how to dress next or what job to work? Really, this is why a lot of unsavory practices like Tobacco sales and pornography are allowed, to protect all of the great rights like freedom of speech and the press.

You want people to lose weight: educate them, make suggestions, and persuade them, but forcing, while it may work on the Japanese, could never work on an American population that is used to very little government interference in their lives. Don't fuck with free will, it always ends badly. Because, you do it, soon it swings around and someone wants to curtail your rights.

Lol, Japan, they also tell their citizens how many children they can have.I think two is the limit. I'm the last of four, lol.

I dunno, North American culture does seem to be fear-based - I'm sure there's a savvy marketing exec out there who can make up an ad campaign to scare the shit out of the normal masses.

I like the idea of changing the name to metabolic syndrome though - I mean, I realize it's just a name change but you shed a lot of negative connotations when you no longer have to use the word 'obese' and focuses less on the 'you're fat!' concept and more just 'you're unhealthy!' which I think is a step in the right direction - it's more encompassing, ya know?

As for forcing it on people - well, GG's right (and Canadians also have this going on in the digital media world right now) part of having the freedoms we have is to allow just about everything to occur. A sweeping generalization but you get the idea - where is the line? I'd love for my government to be able to help people when they can't help themselves but where does it end, and who ends up exempt?

But I guess it's good to see that the world in general isn't just sitting back and sliding into obesity - while it may not be the best approach at least someone took the time to think of how to REALLY help. Who knows, it'll probably be effective. Efforts like this (in my opinion) shouldn't be looked at with incredulity but with an analytical mind to determine what strategies and promotion was the most effective in helping people to lose weight. In essence, I (of course) want to turn this into a social science experiment.

John43620 saidI can't stand control freaks, especially hypocritical ones. If pregnant women choosing to murder their babies is OK, so is choosing to have an extra helping of mashed potatoes.

That depends, is she a FAT pregnant woman? Because that changes everything.

There's a whiff of something Hitleresque to me about these laws, however...

I'm gonna be the odd guy here and say I think this is a good thing, especially since the state is picking up the tab. Considering the boomers in the US who'll help to drive up healthcare costs (which are already astronomical due in no small degree to avaricious drug cartels), maybe the US could use this law too. Also, 39" seems like WAAAAAAAY too big for the average US male, unless the average height is well over 6'3" (which I don't think it is).

Too bad obesity (while a US obession) is so normalized in the US. There was a time (not that long ago, look at your grandparents pictures) when people were much smaller...would that we (in the US) could get there again. 2 cents, bitches.

A 39" waist is HUGE.

Guys with 30" waists or less can't find pants ANYWHERE. I know I can't. No one carries them anymore. Even in the nicer stores. Everything is 38" and up.

The Japanese have ulterior motives.

lol on ulterior motives

also the japanese don't have a child limit law thats china. Right now the japanese government is trying to encourage more childbirth since its the first country to reach the so called population peak.

and i didn't mean that all fat people are ugly/sweaty or whatever but it still is a pain to be next to them on the bus.

also i probably wouldn't phrase it in terms of waist line. It would have to be a doctors assessment.

and right on about people with thirty inch waists. Its so goddam hard to find pants these days.

I don't think japan has to worry about transfats like we do. Transfats are really easy to avoid and i know no good ajapanese mother is feeding her children that crap.

i have a 28 inch waist. try finding THAT. i've only found a few companies that even make my size in jeans- 28x32- and they're sevens and diesels. im not complaining, cause those are incidentally my two favorites, but it'd be nice to have more affordable options. it certainly doesn't give much incentive to be fit. maybe if fat people had to hunt around for their size, they'd loose some weight.

John43620 saidI can't stand control freaks, especially hypocritical ones. If pregnant women choosing to murder their babies is OK, so is choosing to have an extra helping of mashed potatoes.

I dont think the government should get in the business of legislating a person's waist size. But I dont see anything wrong in charging a person more for their personal decisions.

If you have choosen to be fat*, then you should have to pay higher health insurance premiums because you are putting yourself at risk for more health problem, higher air fares cuz it takes more to fly your fat ass around, etc.


*ie, there is no medical basis for it, eg. a side effect of my cancer therapy was the deposit of fat on my abdomen. This is a known side effect. Therapy is over and I am working it off.

LittleDudeWithMuscles saidA 39" waist is HUGE.

Guys with 30" waists or less can't find pants ANYWHERE. I know I can't. No one carries them anymore. Even in the nicer stores. Everything is 38" and up.

Go to Europe... plenty of them when I was in Paris. For the life of me I couldn't find 34 length pants.

Once the government starts regulating gay sexual activity to curtail diseases, I'm sure some of you will change your tune on regulating overweight people.

Many people out there think quarantine for Poz's isn't a bad idea.

ImTrying21 saidOnce the government starts regulating gay sexual activity to curtail diseases, I'm sure some of you will change your tune on regulating overweight people.

Good point!

somebody help me out with Orwell's police state dictum from 1984. something like "everything not forbidden is mandatory."

Squarejaw saidsomebody help me out with Orwell's police state dictum from 1984. something like "everything not forbidden is mandatory."

I don't remember, SJ, but when my sister was in law school, she summarized her international law class thus:

"In the U.S., everything is permitted except that which is prohibited.
In Germany, everything is prohibited except that which is permitted.
In France, everything is permitted especially that which is prohibited.
In Russia, everything is prohibited including that which is permitted."

I think the article said it's not the entire Japanese population. Only 40-74 as it represents a large part of their population. It's also being done to curtail ballooning medical costs. I think Japan has national health insurance coverage for citizens too. It would never happen over here in the states because poor health is big business. Why do you think the medical field is always growing?

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has found a way of legislating away laziness.

Perhaps we should just have more wars and national conscription. I don't think you see fat soldiers.