Mainichi : Japan among world's highest for heart attack risk

Japan ranks fifth in the world for heart attack fatalities and remains one of the most likely places on earth for people to succumb to cardiovascular disease, according to a World Health Organization report issued in Geneva.

Japan's 130,000 heart attack deaths in 2002 made it the fifth highest ranking country on earth for fatalities, following China, India, Russia and the United States.

The WHO points to six factors that drastically increase the risk of heart attack and illness -- high blood pressure, body fat, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and diabetes.

Japan was cited for the high level of smoking that occurs here, as well as for the prevalence of hypertension. China and Russia were cited for the same factors. Obesity was blamed for many of the U.S. heart attacks and diseases, while India was slammed for the overall lack of exercise.

Japan's 6.8 million diabetics also ranked fifth in the world following India, China, the United States and Indonesia. (Mainichi Shimbun, Sept. 25, 2004)
I thought that Japanese had healthier diets than even Europeans or Australians, but it seems not to be the case (I just hope they took the per capita figures and not total cases). Japanese food is usually praised for its low level of fat. Of course, lot's of Japanese eat more and more non Japanese food, including American fastfood or Japanese junk food (cup ramen, etc.).

I have also noticed that Japanese seem to a noted preference for fatty meat. They pride themselves on their Kobe beef with strings of white fat in it. The fatter the part of tuna (ootoro, then chuutoro, then maguro) the more expensive and demanded it is. Japanese TV programmes about food often show meat glittering with fat as a way to water viewers mouths.

High blood pressure is surely due to stress, anxiety and overwork.

High smoking rates have the same causes, but are accentuated by the almost inexistent anti-tobacco campaigns, as Japan Tobacco is owned by the Japanese government.