Healthy, Friendly Japan - Lifestyle, Star online

Please read the article published in the Star newspaper on Sunday, October 28 about Healthy, Friendly Japan. It's about how Japan battles with obesity and lifestyle-related diseases like any other advanced nation. Japan, not a nation to take things lying down has drawn a battle plan to improve healthy diet efforts.
In an unprecedented initiative in the world, the Japanese government is not only providing healthy lunch meals at a highly subsidised rate in public schools but also in it's national movement, nurtures people into practising a healthy lifestyle.

Watch this Movie depicting a lunchtime scenario in a public elementary school.

Bento #50

This is a delicious bento. In the back bento box are vegetables tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Used cookie cutters to cut carrot stars for color and another STAR - shaped egg.

In the front bento box is Udon noodles lightly tossed in garlic oil and topped with kamaboko.

We were at a wedding dinner on Saturday and there was a lady sitting next to us with beautiful, porcelain type skin. We just couldn't resist asking her for her beauty regime. She shared with us that when she was young, her mother used to force her to eat lots and lots of vegetables and fruits. So much so that she never had a chance to eat tit bits like her two other brothers. She was so traumatized by the disparity that she decided only to have one child so that her child would not have to suffer like her, being set aside and treated differently. That bit of personal sharing blew us away.

She was so bare with her hurts that we could only share her languish by providing a listening ear. I would never put my children through such 'abuse' for finer skin. I could, perhaps add on the fruits and vegetables to their menu and encourage that they maintain a balanced diet.