Are bulging waistlines really a threat to health?

In his book "Itsumademo Debu to Omounayo" (Don't think I am fat forever), published by Shinchosha Publishing Co., critic Toshio Okada, who lost 50 kilograms in a year, flatly states that the fatter you are, the more you lose.

The message is: If you don't want to be judged unfairly by the way you look, you must make an effort to slim down. Instead of feeling bad about how others see you, take advantage of it and change yourself.

This also appears to be the philosophy behind a new physical checkup item for metabolic syndrome, which took off this month. There are many body parts that I would rather not be measured. One of them is the waistline.

For people aged 40 and older, abdominal measurement has become a requirement. No matter how red I turn when someone puts a tape measure tightly around my waist, there is no way I can clear the 85-centimeter mark, a standard sign of metabolic syndrome for men.

Blood pressure over a certain level is another sign that someone may be developing metabolic syndrome and should seek professional guidance.

While acknowledging the danger of diseases triggered by visceral fat, many people must be feeling down at the addition of another unwelcome item to physical checkups.

The new system relies on the idea that in order to reduce swelling medical expenses, we must reduce our swelling waistlines.

It seems we can be measured with our clothes on or even measure ourselves. With such lax methods, I cannot help but wonder if abdominal circumference is really the determining factor for metabolic syndrome to begin with. Some people see the new system as a way to increase government-certified "half-sick" people and bolster the medical business.

To my delight, Minoru Kamata, a doctor who objects to "abdominal circumference absolutism," says "chubbiness" that borders on obesity is good.

For a person who stands at 170 centimeters, 75 kilograms is considered "chubby," according to Kamata.

But the term metabo has such a pathetic ring that it makes me think of a fat person losing his or her way in a forest of obesity.

To express it, I want to put the kanji for lost, fat and bewildered, which together makes a phonetic equivalent of "metabo." On top of that, we have to expose our waistline under government policy and embarrass ourselves.

Whether we take advantage of the chance to slim down or not, the body has no choice but to control itself. As a first step, I think I'll start by trying to shed a few kilograms to aim at being just chubby bit by bit.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 8(IHT/Asahi: April 15,2008)