The Japanese government is worried about people getting fat and has passed a number of regulations including compulsory tests for “metabolic syndrome” for everyone over 40, and requiring companies to reduce obesity levels among their workers or face higher insurance bills. The government controls the social insurance scheme, which many companies pay on behalf of their employees.

So no more doughnuts in the company cafeteria, I guess. Actually I suspect one cause of the problem, if there is one, is various “drinking meetings” (such as nomikai) that many company employees attend regularly with each other and clients, with beer being the drink of choice. Recently, low calorie beers have been marketed heavily in Japan (and zero-alcohol beer too!), which may become even more popular with the new policies.

Personally, living in Japan has been great for my health. I wasn’t overweight to start with, but in one year I lost about 5kg. Food is expensive, especially dairy products and things based on dairy like cakes and icecream. Portions served in restaurants are generally small too. And I don’t have a car, so have been walking and cycling a lot.

(HT: Signal vs Noise)