Thailand Announces Anti-Waist Program

It's the no pot-bellies in the office campaign. Just imagine if the government tried something like this in the USA.

Thailand's Ministry of Public Health has launched a pilot campaign targeted to rid the kingdom of persons with overlarge midsections, termed "No pot-bellies in the office" with the aim of reducing obesity and the increased risk of diabetes and other diseases, according to Deputy Public Health Minister Dr. Morakot Kornkasem.

The senior health official said the ministry initiated the project after finding that Metabolic Syndrome, which is a concurrence of multiple medical indicators, is increasing at an alarming rate among both men and women in Thailand.

"A survey on Metabolic Syndrome among Thais aged between 19-59 years old by using waist circumference as a main indicator," Dr. Morakot said, "found that the number of Thai people with the problematic lifestyle indicator increased from 28 per cent in 2004 to almost 36 per cent in 2006."

Metabolic Syndrome is defined as having a waist circumference of more than 90 centimetres (cm) (35.4 inches) for men and more than 80cm (31.5 inches ) for women.

Simply speaking, many people eat too much, eat the wrong foods, and exercise little or not at all.