Earlier this month, we told you how the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends some children as young as age eight take cholesterol-fighting drugs to prevent having heart problems when they get older.

Now, the New York Times reports hundreds of thousands of American children are taking drugs for a wide range of chronic conditions related to childhood obesity – Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and acid reflux – all problems linked to obesity that were practically unheard-of in children 20 years ago.

Related posts

• Small changes = fewer overweight kids in Philadelphia schools
• News Nugget: Fast food ad ban could cut childhood obesity
• Less sleep, more TV makes kids fat
• Young kids urged to take cholesterol drugs
• Treeswing: Making a Healthy Difference

I just saw this article in the New York Times about the new Japan fat law - it’s a very aggressive campaign to get its citizens to slim down, including measuring the waists of nearly half its population. This NYT picture is of a poster at a public health clinic that says, “Goodbye, metabo” – a word associated with being overweight.

There’s now a national law in Japan that requires companies and local governments to measure the waistlines of those between the ages of 40 and 74 as part of their annual checkups. That’s more than 56 million people – about 44 percent of the population.

The government’s waistline limits are 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women. They’re the same guidelines the International Diabetes Federation uses to identify health risks in Japan.

So what happens to those whose waistlines exceed the measurements? If they also have a weight-related illness and don’t lose weight after three months, they’ll get some special education on dieting. Companies and local governments that don’t reach specific targets will be fined.

Japan is doing this to try to reach its goals of cutting the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years. It says the campaign will keep diseases like diabetes and strokes under control, as well as reduce the country’s skyrocketing health care costs. Critics say the guidelines are too strict and will lead to overmedication and ultimately raise health care costs.

Now, if a country like Japan that isn’t known for its overweight people is doing this, do you think the U.S. should do something similar to fight the obesity epidemic we have here? Or is it going too far? It’ll definitely be interesting to see if the campaign helps Japan reach its weight-loss goals.

Related posts

• Small changes = fewer overweight kids in Philadelphia schools
• One Nation, Overweight premieres tonight
• Obesity per state: Americans getting fatter and fatter…
• News Nugget: Some teens so heavy, they need liver transplants
• News Nugget: Overweight preschoolers have signs of heart disease