In Japan, they are now measuring waistlines at work to cut down soaring medical bills

This is just mind boggling. Can you imagine walking into work one day to be told that if you are over 40-years-old, you will be subjected to "flab checks" to see if you are at risk for "metabolic syndrome - symptoms associated with being overweight that, if left unchecked, increase the risk of strokes, heart disease and diabetes." Well, the health ministry in Japan is now making corporations do this as an effort to reduce soaring medical bills due to an increase of obesity in middle-aged people, about 56 million in Japan.

Guess what your waist measurement needs to be...

If you're a man with a gut of more than 85cm or 33.5in you will be put on a diet and exercise plan or else your company will be held liable. The news did not state what the cut off was for women, so I'm curious as to what it is. In the last decade, Japenese men have gotten 10% heavier, and women 6%. Companies are mandated to reduce the number of "flabby" workers and their dependants by 10% by 2012. Those who don't may have to pony up surcharges of up to 10% on contributions to a welfare fund for the elderly.

This has got to be one of the most humiliating things to inflict upon someone in the workplace. I understand that the Japanese health ministry wants people to be healthier but to make corporations accountable for that is not the way to do it. Working in a corpse-rate environment is tough enough, so can you imagine the kind of added discrimination, shame, and harassment that those who flunk the "flab test" will start receiving and feeling from their co-workers and bosses. A contributing factor to weight gain is stress, and something like this is just going to add more stress to those who don't meet the health criteria.

And isn't a 33.5inch waist a really tough standard to meet for the guys? Dr. Oz tells everyone in his book, You: On A Diet, that the ideal healthy waist size for men is 35" and under, and the dangers to health increase at 40", and for women the ideal waist size is 32" and under, and health dangers increase at 37". Yes, Japanese men and women tend to have shorter heights than Americans, but not that much.

So, what do you all think, is this move by the Japanese health ministry a smart choice or a well-intentioned yet disasterous move?

[via Guardian UK via SavvySugar]