2010 Volume 10 Issue 10 Pages 383-392
Compared with other countries, Japan has a low incidence of obesity. However, obesity has been defined as the main cause of metabolic syndrome, and in Japan a national system of special annual health examinations has been initiated to counter and prevent metabolic syndrome.
Following WWII, in order to improve the quality of the Japanese diet, it was recommended that Japanese move from a rice centered diet, to a diet higher in protein and fats through increased dairy and meat consumption. It has been thought that this change in diet, especially the higher intake of fats, resulted in higher obesity rates. This paper surveys fat intake and obesity rates, but the close relation between the two suggested by epidemiological surveys and papers from researchers in this field were not found. For example, over the past 10 years, males in their 30s and 40s have decreased their fat consumption by 10 percent; nevertheless, the incidence of obesity in these age groups increased by 10 to 20 percent. Despite this, the “healthy oils” and “zero fat” products are widely consumed, reflecting the persistent idea that dieting means decreasing fat intake. Fats are important structural and physiological components of food; therefore restricting fat intake necessarily has a large effect on health. On the other hand, with the development of food technology, many foods now contain fat, and since the energy content of fat is high, it has been easy to assume a connection between fat intake and obesity. Therefore along with the increased interest in health and recognizing fat as an essential nutrient, it is important to develop guidance through dissemination of information, development of new products and education in schools so that consumers can use fats wisely.
