Workers in Japan aged 40 and over must have their waists measured as part of their annual health checks under a national program to fight obesity and metabolic syndrome, popularly known as the "Metabo Law," Kikar HaShabbat reported.
Under the regulations, a man's waist should not exceed 85 centimeters and a woman's should not exceed 90 centimeters. Employees who go over those limits are not fined personally. They may, however, be placed under medical and dietary supervision, including meetings with specialists, guidance on changing their eating habits and exercise targets.
The real pressure falls on employers. The Japanese government links the success of companies' health programs to the amount they contribute to the health insurance system. Organizations that fail to meet the targets may face higher insurance costs, which turns their employees' waistlines into a financial matter that companies cannot ignore.
At large Japanese corporations, that pressure can reach all the way to the factory floor. In one widely reported case, electronics giant Matsushita, which the report describes as the parent company of Panasonic, had to measure more than 100,000 employees and retirees.
The company went beyond issuing general guidelines. It sent nurses and medical teams into workplaces, including production halls and cafeterias, to carry out the measurements. Workers had to stop what they were doing to be weighed and have their waists measured. Measuring tapes were placed in the cafeterias, and the public address system played songs encouraging employees to say goodbye to belly fat.
The result is that waist measurement has become part of routine corporate management. An employee may not pay out of pocket for exceeding the limit, but the employer would much prefer that it not show up on the next health check form.
