Japanese Women Don't Get Fat?

One upping the slightly disingenuous French Women Don't Get Fat, The latest incarnation in the Healthier Than Thou diet-book genre is Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama. In it, Moriyama attempts to discover the secrets to the Japanese peoples' super low obesity rate -- 3%, the lowest in the industrialized world -- and their fabled long lives - 85 years, the highest life expectancy -- by dissecting her mother's kitchen. The book has it's good points (simple cooking) and it's moments of over-the-top rhapsodizing but what interests me is how people who are not Japanese take this advice. To find out, I interviewed three Americans who lived in Japan.

Japanese Diet Tips From Americans

1. No Walking Lunches. Jennie Berglund, a middle school teacher from Minnesota who spent 12 days in Izumi City on an exchange program notes, "It is rude to eat, drink and smoke on the street or while walking. That isn't how food is to be treated." Dr. Thomas Hilton, a university professor at the University of Wisconsin -- Eau Claire who lived in rural Kyushu for two years, adds, "You never saw someone walking and eating or eating in a car. It was considered the height of impropriety. If you were going to eat, you sat down."

2. Eat Simply. One of the main takeaway tips from the book, this fact was brought up in all of my interviews. Fish, rice, veggies, fruit, tea and soy are the main staples. Grant Sunada, who holds a Masters of Public Health and lived in Japan for three years and has visited several times, says, "You might say that the Japanese diet is high in complex carbs and salt -- rice and soy sauce! How that contributes to narrow waistlines, I'm not sure. But fish and veggies are very common (and tasty too) so maybe that helps." Berglund noted that while American fast food seems to have taken off all over the world, the Japanese students they stayed with enjoyed it but didn't eat much of it. Berglund describes a typical breakfast as, "lettuce, a sliced tomato, tea, small serving of yogurt with these interesting vitamin jell-o like cube in it, 1 egg, whole wheat toast. Lunch was often times soup, always white rice, little packets of dried fish (looked like minnows with heads still attached in a saltine packet) and, milk."

3. Power Walk. Whether in the large cities like Sunada and Berglund or a rural area like Hilton, the Japanese spend a good portion of their time walking. Sunada says, "In Japan, people rarely drive, so that makes them more active than the average American. Most walk, ride bikes, drive a scooter, or take mass transit." In addition to walking, Hilton points out that especially the poorer Japanese are hardy by nature as they have to withstand the elements. "The people lived in houses made from a bamboo lattice, smeared with mud then whitewashed with paper windows and doors. No central heating or a/c. Even when they were inside, they were not separated from the elements much. In the winter, the way they kept warm was they sat at a low table with a koutatsu -- a cylinder holding lit charcoal -- under the table. Then you'd put a quilt over the table. The people had to be hardy. "

4. Food is Fuel. "Japanese people view their food strictly as a source of energy. My host parents mentioned that many times! They view food as a necessity for healthy living and treat meals as sacred TV off time periods. It is a Japanese love affair with food versus an American wham-bam-thank you-ma'am with food," says Berglund. Hilton adds that cleanliness and a beautiful presentation were also of utmost importance to even the poorest Japanese.

While all three noticed an increase in their energy and general health while living in Japan, when asked if they had incorporated any of the good Japanese habits into their American lifestyles, the general consensus was no. While Sunada claims a penchant for Japanese food when he eats out here, Hilton sums up his experience with, "I suppose I still prefer a firm mattress."

Was there anything the Americans thought was unhealthy? Sunada points out, "The men are workaholics, traditionally speaking." Berglund noted that the number of people smoking was "off the charts." Hilton added that for many poorer Japanese it can be difficult to eat a properly balanced meal as food there is very expensive.

While the traditional Japanese diet may reign supreme, in a stroke of supreme irony, the people that may be the least healthy of all are Japanese who move to America. A recent study showed that Japanese men who switched to a western diet had higher rates of obesity and type II diabetes than both their traditional-diet Japanese counterparts and their western-food eating American neighbors.

And the premise of the book? Are Japanese women really that thin? In their experience, yes. Berglund hypothesizes it's all about the chopsticks. "Eating with chopsticks is a great diet plan. If nothing else, it forces you to eat slower."

Have any of you lived in Japan? What's your experience?

Comments

[mitsugo]

Going on my 17th year in rural Japan.

There are definitely fewer obese folks. However, there are many women who call themselves fat who, by Western standards, would be on the high end on of normal.

There is a current obsession with 'metabolic syndrome'. Yearly health screenings include measuring one's stomach girth- greater than 90 cm for a woman means the dreaded 'metabolic syndrome'. Even kids are included in the campaign to combat obesity- my kids had their cholesterol and blood sugar levels taken in elementary school last year.

There is definitely a jingoist attitude toward the national diet that can be grating at times. Yes, I know and enjoy the many health aspects but the amounts of salt (via soy sauce especially) and sugar, that is added to so, so much, are often ignored.

Diet seems to be implicated in some awful health conditions too. One thing I had never heard of back in the States was stomach cancer. It is quite common here. Also, the stroke rate is fairly high.

One thing that is interesting is that Japanese men are not considered. The amount of alcohol consumed is something else... And still so many smokers.

[ellwood]

A few things I noticed from my extended stay:

1. Food is more expensive. Sometimes much more. Even rice there is more expensive. I got back to the US and went through the isles of a supermarket thinking wow.. everything is practically free! :)

2. Living quarters are also smaller. So between #1 & #2, less inclination to buy & store food you don't immediately need, esp. junk food.

3. People eat out a lot, and the Japanese-style restaurant & "fast food" there tends to be a lot healthier than the US equivalent. There, I could eat out every night and not feel like I was trashing my body -- not so here. And for a simple, healthy meal, try a convenience store! Yup, they have a full complement of to-go dinners that just need to be microwaved for a minute or so. Just take it to the counter and they'll stick it in the microwave for a minute and voila, a good meal to take back to your place. Here the to-go meals at convenience stores are mostly junk.

4. Smaller portions when eating out. The portions here are unbelievable.. I can often make two or more meals out of them.

[frombcn]

my sister is now living in Tokyo, we´re mediterranean, from Barcelona. In our diet, we use to eat fish, vegetables and fruit, but my sister lost 10 kg. the first 2 months living there.
it´s true, it´s not only what you eat, is important also the system, to sit down when you´re eating, to walk, the quantity of food,..
It´s a pity that in my country we´re losing the right way of eating, everytime we´re more obese, also childreen. And it´s also because less exercise.
I also have seen that food in Tokyo is really much cheap than in Barcelona, we like very much fresh fish, but you need to mortgage to go to buy it in Catalunya. It´s really cheaper fast-food than fresh food.
Also vegetables and fruit doesn´t taste the same than 20 years ago, now it taste like water, and very expensive.
Perhaps if the governments invert a little bit in this issue, they could economize in medical-insurance, here in Spain is free for everybody.

[dadw5boys]

Your missing one major effect of the American Diet. In the past Americans worked hard and needed a lot of calories. I mean many worked very hard and built muscles that are now hanging around on top of thier stomach. That where the joke "MY CHEST IS IN MY DRAWERS" comes from.
Changing not only work habits and but eating habit has not been easy since most of the hard physical labor jobs left for China, Mexico and off shore.
My mother worked many years and had muscles so tight in her sholders that they pinched the nerves in her neck. Now those muscles are around her waist. She is 78 and all those muscles are trying to fat apparently. So there is a huge difference between Obese and body changes from a change in lifestlye and working enviorment.

[jake106]

Most beautiful women on earth. Ever.

[JDTwom]

I lived in Japan for 3 years in the early 1990s. During the time I lived there, I ate a Japanese diet and, even though I pretty much went out drinking with my friends on a daily basis, I lost about 15-20 pounds while I was there. I kept having to have my suits, which I had bought before I went, taken in. My Japanese friends were worried about me, because they saw me losing so much weight, but I kept telling them it was just because I ate better, smaller meals in Japan than I did in the US. Even Japanese "junk food" was healthier than most American meals.

[KHAAANNN]

WHAT!?!?!?
I've been to Japan, and trust me, there are plenty of OLD FAT WOMEN there, but you have to be there to see them out sweeping the street at 5:00 AM in front of their little shop to notice.
The odd thing about Japan is the sharp demarcation between the young and the old.
The young are generally slim and healthy and out and about in large "herds" and the old are generally overweight and infirm and you RARELY see them unless you know where to look.
Japan has the oldest population in the WORLD and many, many of my Japanese friends are very worried that Japan cannot care for the huge population of retirees since they have a NEGATIVE birth rate right now.
The biggest difference I saw while there is the relative lack of red meat in their diet (it is VERY expensive to eat beef of any kind in Japan.) Lots of sea food (of course) and FRESH VEGETABLES,
with really, REALLY good rice at every meal.
Oh, and they ALL DRINK LIKE FISH!!!!! So their caloric intake from alcohol is HUGE!

[DocManhattan]

Lived there for three years myself, and though I was up plenty in the mornings and saw various people street-sweeping, I did not get anything like the impression you convey, Khaaann. There are some overweight people in Japan, sure -- but proportionally far, far fewer than in North America and Europe. And if you're going to compare the proportion of fat old people to skinny old people (of whom I saw plenty) in Japan and in America, then I guarantee you'll find that America is vastly fatter.

Yes, Japan has an ageing population, and mostly I hung out with people in the 20-45 age group. But in that group I met very few people that were overweight, and none that were obese. Compare that with what we have in America and the difference is pretty shocking.

As for the dietary differences, they are as stated in the article, but also the key difference that struck me was portion sizes. I remember I frequented a western-style cafe in Tokyo that started selling cream-cheese bagels, but had to change to selling half-bagels within a week, because none of the locals would buy a whole one.