Japan Pays For What It Eats. Twice

It used to be that the Japanese would try hard to stay fit, simply for the overall image of their company or community. With an increasingly Western diet and lifestyle, however, the Japanese are putting on weight at a rate that has alarmed the government. With health care costs growing exponentially, the Japanese government is passing new laws regarding health, one of which makes routine company health checks mandatory.

Big businesses in Japan have been issued their ultimatum. They have until the year 2013 to get their employees meeting government health standards, or the company could be fined. New health standards include goal waist measurements of 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women - guidelines from the International Diabetes Federation. People failing to meet this goal are undergoing health education, being forced to take the stairs, participate in company exercise programs and eat company issued lunches.

This program is rooted in money, which seems to be the best motivator for losing weight regardless of nationality. I do not think, however, that a program like this would work in the United States, simply because it is penalty rather than reward based. Americans love to be rewarded. The fact that we eat dessert after dinner is proof enough of that, as we are usually rewarding ourselves for eating a good, healthy meal. The Japanese eat dessert before dinner, often with their friends or peers to strengthen themselves as a group. If nothing else, this program works in Japan solely due to their overwhelming sense of wanting to belong and contribute to the group. As the Japanese proverb says, "the nail that sticks out, gets pounded in" or in this case, the belly.