Kisama,
Nyororin is partially right, unless the laws have been changed and there is more detail on this.
The penalities are actually on :
"To reach its goals of shrinking the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years, the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The country’s Ministry of Health argues that the campaign will keep the spread of diseases like diabetes and strokes in check."
not on the individual (directly).

But the sources I've seen haven't gone into true detail.
But you are a little late the flame fest on this. Its seems to be a dead thread now. Plenty of thoughts there though. The original article is there.

The U.S. may do it though with "sweeping" healthcare reform:rolleyes:

http://www.japanforum.com/forum/gene...-millions.html

In the US we use the old, 'take away their jobs and let them starve to death' trick.

uhm guys, can we please stay on topic? i think the topic starter would appreciate that ^^


i think its nice japan offers free support on losing weight. here they just offer coupons for extra burgers during lunch breaks <.<

Hahahaha!! Get Smart! I love that! (Referring to futurebeast...)

Yes so true...the US doesn't have very good laws pretaining to the subject. Something needs to be done over here, and fast... =_='

Japan's law sounds like a good one, but I know for a fact it won't work for everyone in the US; and I'm not saying because they don't want to, but because they physically can't lose the amount of weight that they need to as fast as everyone else.

Doctors here, especially in CA, seem to be impatient about such things...I have no idea what it is, you think they'd be the ones to be the most patient. Oh well.

No plan works for everyone the same, but I would hope that if Japan's plan moves to the US, that doctors would be a little more patient, and that health care workers, and doctors (as well as government in general) would work to the advantage of the patient, and not to their own selfish wants.
But, that's just my own thing...heh...sorry...

~HonoraryJapaneseGirl~

Glad someone got it. It is the oldest in the book after all.

Lol! And just knowing my own age, I'm probably a lot younger than you...
XD
~HonoraryJapaneseGirl~

Ah, the good old days....
 

I am a benefactor of Nick at Night. Just had my 25th on the 20th. Party hardy!

Still younger than you!! XD lol...
But what do you think can be done to help the US's obesity problem? I'm curious to know another US resident's opinion...

~HonoraryJapaneseGirl~

Jazzercise. No, but seriously, everyone should get a dog and walk it everyday. It would also help to replace one happy meal with a salad everyday as well.

As far as the state? More parks, smaller streets with more bike lanes and, strangely enough, trains. When I lived in Japan I was a lot more inclined to walk because of the train access. I could go anywhere by foot. The other great thing is the government support for mom and pop shops in Japan. The diversity of shopping, restaurants, great parks system and convenience stores got me out everyday, all the time. It was also so easy to get on the internet wherever I was. Made it easy to justify leaving my computer.

There is also the crazy assortment of chemicals they use here. It is true that they are prevalent in Japan, but people eat smaller meals and exercise quite a bit more. They also eat a lot of vegetables which provide them with magnesium and vitamin C which are known to protect against the effects. I have read, since I am studying medicine, that MSG is the common method used to cause obesity in lab rats for scientific studies on the subject. Now granted that MSG is widely used in Japan, I can still safely say that 60-70% of all the stuff at the grocery in the states contains hidden sources of MSG. Vegetable protein isolate, soy products, anything labeled 'seasoning' or 'spices' etc. all tend to contain MSG. It is a common ingredient in baby food. I might be getting a lot of flack for mentioning that, but it is true.

I remember health class in high school and how crazy the information was. Was it 6 servings of starch a day? And they taught me how to make a bagel and cream cheese sandwich. They actually thought that was healthy? How about a salad? I remember, "Pizza can be part of a balanced meal. Starch, meat, dairy, vegetables and even fruit!" Nuts.

There are some super sized fatties here in Japan. The population is getting fatter and eating a more western diet. You see enough fatties wedged in McD's or KFc's to make you think you were in the USA anyway.

I think the people who came up with this idea were all sitting in a sushi-ya smoking 40 ciggarettes each and a fat girl complained to them about the health issues with smoking.