The obesity epidemic due to poor eating habits and lack of activity that is strangling western culture seems to be permeating the east.

Search google for ‘obesity’ and ‘america’ and you will find TONS of websites talking about the obesity epedemic that supposedly is taking over America. Well, just today someone pointed out this article to me. It reads, “Girdles for paunchy guys a big seller in Japan…As Japanese waistlines expand, so is the market for girdles — for men.” As you probably figured out, there is now a girdle for men available in Japan. And it is being marketed to men who are more “fashion conscious”… not because Japanese men are becoming more overweight, but becuase they are “starting to pay attention to the lines of their body and their silhouette, just like women” said a spokeswoman at Triumph International, the company marketing the product. Not only is this thing just being marketed in Japan, but they are selling like hotcakes! The article goes on to explain that the boom may be explained by the “growing weight problem among once slim Japanese.” At least the writers of this article are not trying to spin this to be something different than it truly is. Triumph International maintains that “most of the demand is due to new styles in pants that are cut to emphasize the hips. ‘It’s really more about style,’ [the spokeswoman] said. ‘After all, there aren’t that many men in their 20s and 30s whose figures are giving way.’” Is she being serious here?! To be fair, I don’t know what proportion of 20-40 year olds are overweight in Japan, but in America that is a huge portion of the overweight population.

One would think that other countries and cultures would be able to learn from the gluttony of America before it seeped into their own cultures. But it looks like at least a portion of the Japanese population is completely oblivious to our widening waistlines. I would take the introduction of a product like this as a sign of general public health moving in the wrong direction.

Get outside and do something!