Japanese Flab Checks

AEGeneral · #1 04-02-2008, 04:56 PM

Wow. I knew it would happen eventually, and yet I'm still not past the shock of it.

Junkfood Science: Diversity outlawed in Japan

Quote:

Today, the Japanese government institutes its compulsory “flab checks” for all workers over the age of 40.

To stem Japan’s “soaring obesity,” the health ministry has mandated that all waistlines among its 56 million workers over age 40 be below “regulation size” of 33.5 inches (for men). Any company failing to bring its employees’ weight under control — as well as the weights of their family members — will be fined up to 10% of its earnings by the government.

Just a side note, there are two kinds of people in the US for which discrimination is perfectly legal: smokers and the obese. Some companies here are already discriminating against smokers, refusing to hire them and periodically conducting surprise nicotine tests for workers in the name of health care costs.

I've always understood (and advocated) surprise drug testing for illegal drugs, but testing for legal substances has opened a door that will establish precedent for companies to legally discriminate against their employees for virtually anything deemed "unhealthy."

There may be a time when they follow you on your lunch break to find out if you're eating fast food. Grounds for dismissal? Hell, nothing is out of the question these days.

Which is why I will never, EVER work for a company that tests for nicotine.

Mark my words, other countries are taking note of what the Japanese are doing.

mcclane · #2 04-02-2008, 10:54 PM

I had to think about this one for abit.

not sure if I would feel at all comfortable about a work place dictating to me what I can and can't do (sounds like the environmentalists, doesn't it ?).

I can understand if a company clamps down on internet use or personal activity in the work place, but clamping down on what we eat ? I know some companies have strict dress code policies, and those companies I shy away from.

AEGeneral · #3 06-13-2008, 08:33 PM

I'm so outraged right now, I'm going to break my own rule in this post about excessive profanity....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/wo...o_interstitial

Quote:

Japan, a country not known for its overweight people, has undertaken one of the most ambitious campaigns ever by a nation to slim down its citizenry.

"Ambitious?" Is that what you call this gross infringement of people's rights? An "ambitious campaign???"

Typical f-ing New York Times.

Quote:

Summoned by the city of Amagasaki one recent morning, Minoru Nogiri, 45, a flower shop owner, found himself lining up to have his waistline measured. With no visible paunch, he seemed to run little risk of being classified as overweight, or metabo, the preferred word in Japan these days.

But because the new state-prescribed limit for male waistlines is a strict 33.5 inches, he had anxiously measured himself at home a couple of days earlier. “I’m on the border,” he said.

33.5? Are you sh*tting me? You call a 33.5 waistline "overweight"? Holy sh*t, this is insanity!

Quote:

Under a national law that came into effect two months ago, companies and local governments must now measure the waistlines of Japanese people between the ages of 40 and 74 as part of their annual checkups. That represents more than 56 million waistlines, or about 44 percent of the entire population.

Those exceeding government limits — 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women, which are identical to thresholds established in 2005 for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as an easy guideline for identifying health risks — and having a weight-related ailment will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight. If necessary, those people will be steered toward further re-education after six more months.

Re-education, eh?

If any government ever tried to put me through this, they'd be staring down the barrel of my shotgun. I'd blow their asses away without thinking twice about it.

Now that's education.

Quote:

To reach its goals of shrinking the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years, the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The country’s Ministry of Health argues that the campaign will keep the spread of diseases like diabetes and strokes in check.

Ministry of Health sounds like a communist dictator to me.

Quote:

“I don’t think the campaign will have any positive effect. Now if you did this in the United States, there would be benefits, since there are many Americans who weigh more than 100 kilograms,” or about 220 pounds, Mr. Ogushi said. “But the Japanese are so slender that they can’t afford to lose weight.”

Damn skippy. If the Japanese get any smaller, I'm liable to fly over there and force half the population to play Tarzan on my shoestrings. Hell, in a few years I could take over the whole damn country without breaking a sweat.

Quote:

“Before we had to broach the issue with the word obesity, which definitely has a negative image,” Dr. Sakamoto said. “But metabo sounds much more inclusive.”

Kinda like "global warming" versus "climate change," eh? "Gun control" versus "gun safety?" Yeah, I know the drill. Whatever it takes to pull the wool over people's eyes.

Quote:

But on a shopping strip here, Kenzo Nagata, 73, a toy store owner, said he had ignored a letter summoning him to a so-called special checkup. His waistline was no one’s business but his own, he said, though he volunteered that, at 32.7 inches, it fell safely below the limit. He planned to disregard the second notice that the city was scheduled to mail to the recalcitrant.

“I’m not going,” he said. “I don’t think that concerns me.”

Way to go, Kenzo!

If they try to haul your skinny ass in after the 3rd letter, don't hesitate to go all kamikaze on their communist asses!

mcclane · #4 06-13-2008, 11:02 PM

here is the irony/hypocracy, a gov't institutes a crackdown on obese people are people are up in arms over it, HOWEVER, environmentalists say obese people contribute to global warming and it doesn't even create a stir.

So how come environmentalists are exempt from making discriminatory remarks ?

However, I agree with you that the japanese is becoming quite strong arm in forcing people to stay fit, I can see why they are doing it but I don't agree with it. It is like the gov't saying we all have to drive fuel efficient cars, it isn't right.

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