More Japanese overweight, exercising less

More Japanese are overweight and are exercising less, putting them further away from government targets aiming for a health-conscious nation by 2010.

Some 29 percent of men aged 20-60 are overweight, a health ministry report revealed, compared with 24 percent when it started a "Health Japan 21" campaign in 2000.

The target is to bring the figure below 15 percent by 2010.

A ministry official said on Friday the government would review the campaign by April, although it had no plans to ease targets such as on the percentage of people who overdrink, those under stress and the amount of vegetables consumed per day.

The report showed Japanese are exercising less, with men on average walking 7,575 steps a day compared with the target of 9,200 and women walking 6,821 steps against a targeted 8,300.

"We live in a country abundant with food. There isn't anything you want to eat you can't get, even things not grown in Japan," the official said.

"But people need to learn to choose what they eat. Also, we need to balance what we consume with exercise," he said, adding that busy lifestyles and cars have led to a decline in exercise.

Tight work schedules however, have not stopped some from taking time to work out.

Many Japanese work places, especially factories, allow time for employees to exercise to music in a yard each morning or afternoon, although the number who do so has fallen in the past few years.

Some exercise in parks. Toru Ebihara, 63, was among a handful of commuters gathered in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo early on Friday who had stripped off their shirts and ties for a daily round of calisthenics.

"Moving the body helps the brain, too," said Ebihara, a pharmacist who has exercised at the park for nearly 40 years.

"As long as it's not raining or I don't have a business trip, I come here before heading to work," he said.

The ministry defines an "overweight" person as one with a body mass index (BMI) above 25. The index is a measure of body fat in adults based on weight and height.