Friday, December 19, 2008

metabo kenshin


in America, where the average male waist size is 39, the idea of some national enforcement campaign against obesity seems hilarious coming from japan. in japan, they are enforcing a rigorous 33.5 inch maximum on male waist size. companies and municipal governments will face financial penalties if their employees or citizens don't comply. they've made up a friendly term, "metabo" to denote metabolic syndrome, a collection of factors that heighten the risk of developing vascular disease and diabetes. those include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and high levels of blood glucose and cholesterol. they even have a song:

“goodbye, metabolic. let’s get our checkups together. go! go! go!

goodbye, metabolic. don’t wait till you get sick. no! no! no!”

i wonder how one would be able to cheat on a test like this. fast? suck in your stomach? i'm also wondering how the words 'fat' and 'japanese' are associated...

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