Japanese men are suddenly overweight. The latest criticism of health, diet and fitness — "metabolic syndrome" — is aimed at men and their bulging waistlines. According to some reports, metabolic syndrome is found in a larger and larger proportion of middle-aged and young people, especially men. Their expanding waistlines reveal the possibility of heart disease, strokes and diabetes.
Frightening as the results might be, there is reason to take this latest "syndrome" with some skepticism.
Some of the criteria for establishing metabolic syndrome are excessively strict; others are based purely on measurements around the stomach and belt line. Any true evaluation of health must take into account a variety of factors. What's more, a blanket condemnation only raises anxiety, hardly a good first step to overall health, and may even provoke one to "give up." Metabolic syndrome, too, seems focused on the exterior appearance of health rather than on serious internal realities. As a result, girdle sales for men are at an all-time high.