In Japan, the state requires men to have waistlines no bigger than 33.5 inches, and women can't have waistlines bigger than 35.4 inches. This law came into effect around April 2008, and it calls upon companies and local governments to annually measure the waistlines of people between the ages of 40 and 74.
Those in violation, if they don't lose the weight after three months, will be given dieting guides. After six more months the offenders will be "re-educated." This is all to decrease the overweight population by 10% over the next four years and 25% over the next seven years. The companies face financial penalties if their employees, the employees' families, and the companies' retirees are above the waistline limits.
I think we can all agree that 33.5 inches for guys is insane, but I don't care what anyone says, I love the overall idea of this plan. It would sure get the 30% of jackasses here who are obese to slim down, which would ultimately bring down the costs of health care anyway. It's called preventing shit before it happens (quite literally) so we won't have to throw money at our problems when we get diseases related to obesity.
Here's a quote from the NYT article:
“Nobody will want to be singled out as metabo [a word for overweight],” Kimiko Shigeno, a company nurse, said of the campaign. “It’ll have the same effect as non-smoking campaigns where smokers are now looked at disapprovingly.”
And to that I say, thank God.
This inspired me to measure my own waist: 32.5 inches!
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