Unbeknownst to most, obesity is frowned upon in Japan. More importantly, Japanese law proves just how serious a problem being overweight is regarded by the government there…
The so-called “Metabo Law” requires overweight individuals, or individuals who show signs of weight-related illnesses, to go to dieting classes. If they fail to attend the classes, the companies that employ them and/or the local governments of the areas in which they live must pay fines to the federal government. In addition, companies with more than a certain percentage of overweight employees are fined directly.
This is something that has become relevant nowadays in the Philippines which is currently beset by the rising prices of its staple, rice, and what is evidently a narrow-minded approach to finding solutions to the underlying affliction that exacerbates this “issue”.
Most Filipinos regard their addiction to rice like a sacred cow the ascendancy of which no amount of factual bases can challenge. The intelligent way the Japanese address their society’s issues as exemplified by this specific case is worth seriously examining as it brings to the fore the wisdom in the Philippines’ polticians’ habitual pandering to what may actually be unproductive social habits and traditions that may contribute to the chronic impoverishment of millions of Filipinos.
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