No Brainer

Japanese people have long been considered one of the healthiest nations in the world living longer than most.

The Japanese diet consists mainly of vegetables, fish, rice and soups. Japanese meals and traditional snacks, until recently, have been well-balanced and nutritious. But with the introduction of foreign foods and mass-produced snack foods coming from foreign cultures, many Japanese, both young and old, are now eating less healthy and gaining weight.

Take snacks for instance. Japanese traditional snacks are usually made of vegetables and seafood. They are higher in nutritional value and lower in calories when compared to foreign snack foods like potato chips, corn chips, cookies and the likes. Foreign snack foods, especially ones mass-produced, tend to be very fatty and low in nutrional value. They are filled with additives and preservatives, and artificial food colorings. These types of foods added to the lack of exercise that many Japanese now experience are huge factors in Japanese gaining weight.

One reason why more Japanese are choosing these foods over their more traditional ones is they are new and exciting. Japan is a thousand some odd years old. Throughout its existence, Japanese culture and foods have not changed much at all. People have eaten the same ole foods over and over. And since people are naturally attracted to new things, foreign foods naturally sell well. The flavors tend to be exciting and zesty, something most Japanese foods do not have. Most Japanese foods are bland.

Good marketing also helps people choose junk food snacks over healthy food snacks. Day in and day out, people are inundated with advertisements of sexy in-shape people drinking and eating and drinking junk food snacks. - Have the New coke and a bag of chips to go, and still keep a waistline and rock hard stomach to boot. - That is the mentality of most commercials and ads. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of hard work along with a mix of well-balanced meals to keep your body in shape if you eat a lot of junk food snacks.

Another reason why Japanese people are getting fatter is because many are not taking the time to prepare foods themselves, or they are opting to eat out at restaurants or fast food places instead of at home.

It is quite common these days to see students stopping at the local convenient store to pick up a snack before school or on their way home from school, and a large majority of them choose junk over healthy.

Fast foods have crept into the Japanese society and are slowly eating away at the waistlines of Japanese people. Japanese students are larger now than ever before.

In the past, it would have been difficult to see anyone overweight. But with the influence of fast foods, junk foods and low exercise habits, Japanese people are becoming overweight. And if this style of eating continues, life expectancy will most likely shorten as well.

I hope you find this article interesting and helpful. If you have time, please leave me a comment. I enjoy feedback. Thanks!