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Notes -
BMI of Japanese men is 137. Highest out of 190 countries, in 53 states are the men thinner. BMI of Japanese women is 183., women of 7 states (Vietnam, Burundi, Madagascar, Bangladesh, East Timor, Ethiopia, Eritrea) are less chubby.
If one looks at Japanese BMI (x axis is time, left graph is of men (男), right of women (女), click the radio button in the top right to isolate an age group) throughout the latter half of 20th century, separated by age and sex, some things stand out.
Men of Japan keep getting fatter, be they 20 or 60. Only 17 year old boys buck the trend. Nothing to talk about here.
The BMI of members of the gentler gender of Japan meanwhile, doesn't such a uniform trend by age group. 20 and 30 year old Japanese women are thinner today then when the pipe smoking general led the Land of the Rising Sun(!), still, they are fatter than they were 1995 or 2005. 40 year olds have slightly higher BMI, but it peaked in 1970. The BMI of 50 year olds peaked in 1980, of 60 yo's in 1995, and of 70 yo's in 2000.
The stereotype does checkout.
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