Fat Korea?

I was actually a tiny bit meanly pleased when I saw this article in the Korea Herald this morning: "One-third of adults overweight." This is terribly mean of me, after all, Koreans are still far less obese than Americans. After all the CDC published that:

• Percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese: 67% (2005-2006)
• Percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 34% (2005-2006) (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm).

However, during my phone interview with the district superintendent I was treated to a 10 minute lecture on how disgustingly obese all Americans are and how wonderfully thin ALL Koreans are. I am not, nor have I ever been obese or even mildly overweight. I was slightly disturbed to be asked my weight following that rant, even though theoretically I KNOW that it isn't considered a rude question in Korean etiquette. I politely pointed out that my resume photo included my full body--he could see for himself that I wasn't obese.

Back to the article, the Korea Herald cites stress, drinking, reduction in proper exercise, eating and sleeping habits as being the main causes of the increase in obesity. Now, I will allow that all of those are extremely key to maintaining a healthy weight. However, I'd also like to point out the increased influence of Western food being a lovely culprit. My kids favorite food when asked on surveys, is never ever kimbap, bibimbap or even kimchi. It's almost always 'pizza! McDonalds! ice cream!' Eating that stuff will get you fat in a hurry. Combine the move away from traditional foods with a move toward crappier habits and that will most definitely lead to obesity.

Happy Monday everyone!
Spaz update: trying to understand tax forms makes me feel like a spaz, regardless of spastic actions actually taken. I think I shall take the advice of my friend and use TurboTax online. Being a responsible, independent adult kind of sucks on occasion.