fat in Japan? good luck

Have you all heard about the waistline measuring in Japan? Apparently a new government law is forcing employers to measure the girth of its workers, retirees and families. The limits are: 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women. Well, I'd pass, but god, can you imagine the embarrassment for someone overweight or just struggling with a little pudge having to line up like cattle to get measured? I'm already having flashbacks to the those grade school phys ed classes where you had to hold a chin up for a certain amount of time.

Aren't most people in Japan a fraction the size of us fatty Americans, anyway? They're calling it metabo - as in your metabolism is effed up and now so is your waist...or something like that.

The Huffington Post's Charlotte Anderson blogs about it, asking, "And does anyone else hear this word and just think of diet pills hawked by white-coated people far too young and good looking to have actually spent eight years in medical school?"