Japan is doing something right. Only around 3% of the population in Japan is obese, according to a survey published by the United Health Foundation. If they tried to do their own version of the reality show The Biggest Loser, they'd have a very hard time casting for it. They just might need to pull some contestants from the pool of USA citizens...
Click ahead for the full story and find out who is worse off than the USA when it comes to heart disease and cancer....
Compared to Japan, the USA is rather pathetic.
United States incidence of obesity:
Females: 33%
Males: 31%
Japan incidence of obesity:
Females: 3.3%
Males: 2.9%
Japan enjoys a diet high in soy products as well as lean proteins like fish.
Hmm...does this make a better case for learning how to love tofu and soy products? Maybe your next Starbucks beverage should be a soy latte.
Another skinny society is Norway with only 5.9% obese females and 6.4% obese males.
On the list of 31 countries worldwide, the USA is indeed the most obese country. By far. The next most obese countries are Malta and the United Kingdom, both at around 20%.
Below, compare the statistics comparing cardiovascular (heart) disease deaths and cancer deaths in the USA vs. Japan. And find out why the Czech Republic isn't doing so hot in health either...
HEART DISEASE:
Per 100k citizens, mortality rate for cardiovascular (heart) disease:
JAPAN: 106
UNITED STATES: 188
Interestingly, the USA is not the highest in heart disease deaths. Greece has 258 and Germany has 211. The highest? The Czech Republic has 315.
CANCER:
Per 100k citizens, mortality rate for cancer:
JAPAN: 119
UNITED STATES: 134
The highest? Once again the Czech Republic at 177, and Denmark at 167.
Read the complete rankings here: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2008/othernations.html
