Fast-Food Craze Raises Worry of Obesity in Japanese Children

Weaned over the centuries on raw fish and bean curd, the slender Japanese have had little cause to worry about obesity and its attendant health hazards that preoccupy many Westerners.

However, a growing passion for ice cream and fast food could change that, and plump teen-agers seem more in evidence in the streets and subways of Tokyo.

And now a boom in health foods and exercise salons suggests a shift in attitudes toward fatness in a land where 330-pound sumo wrestlers have traditionally been idolized.

“In the old days people felt that only the poor were thin and to be fat was a good thing,” said Mamoru Nishimuta, researcher at the National Nutrition Institute.

“Now there is a recognition that obesity, especially in children, increases the risk of various diseases, and so there is a move to try to prevent excess weight.”

Just how many Japanese are getting fat is difficult to measure.

Health officials say the percentage of overweight individuals in the population hit a postwar peak about 10 years ago and has remained almost constant since then. About 13% of men and 15% of women in their 30s were obese, according to 1983 survey.

More worrying to some health specialists are the potential health hazards of obesity among the younger generation.

Pediatricians say too much television, the pressure to skip sports in favor of studying at special after-school classes to get into good universities, and the sheer abundance of food are contributing to obesity in school-age children.

“Everyone is going to juku (educational cramming) so there’s no time for exercise,” a pediatrician said. “If there is any free time, they sit in front of the television.”

Official statistics put the percentage of obese school-age children at under 2%, but nutrition experts say changing quality as well as quantity of diet may alter this.

The traditional Japanese diet of fish, bean curd, vegetables and rice has been cited by health experts as a factor in Japanese longevity and the low incidence of heart disease.

“But not only is the amount of meat and dairy products in the Japanese diet increasing, fat intake is also on the rise,” Nishimuta said.