Government Mandated Health?

via 37Signals signal versus noise

“To curtail Japan’s overweight population, the Japanese health ministry recently mandated that all waistlines among its 56 million workers over age 40 be below ‘regulation size’ of 33.5 inches (for men). Any company failing to bring its employees’ weight under control — as well as the weights of their family members — will be fined up to 10% of its earnings by the government.”

So I have just over 4 years to shave a couple of inches off….if I wanted to work for a Japanese company.

I think this is good. Companies which provide nothing but sugar-filled vending machines and expect their workers to work long hours should be fined.