When I spent two years in the United States during elementary school, one of my favorite things was the school cafeteria.

I was amazed I could pick and choose what to eat for lunch, even ice cream and Rice Krispies. I used my child wisdom to prevent my mom from preparing me a lunch box filled with Japanese food I ate every day at home.

Buying junk food such as pizza, french fries and hot dogs with my meal card felt like heaven for a 10-year-old from Japan, where students had to eat school lunches planned by dietitians.

But nearly 20 years later, I’m scared to think what would have happened if I had kept on eating like that all my school life. I try to keep the Japanese diet I’ve gotten used to over the years.

Merely 3 percent of the 126 million Japanese are obese, the lowest among developed countries, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The United States tops the list at more than 30 percent.

Japan was also ranked the healthiest country in the world by the World Health Organization, with its population living the longest and the most years in good health.

So what’s their secret to staying fit and healthy?

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It’s hardly news anymore that a third of Americans are fat, but the epidemic continues to expand their belts as well as their deficits.

In the United States, two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The health cost of obesity is as high as $147 billion annually, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Obesity is “the fastest-growing cause of disease and death in America,” U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona said in 2003, calling it crisis. “And it’s completely preventable.”

But obesity still haunts the nation as the U.S. government recently released the “2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” repeating that same message: Eat healthier, exercise more.

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