A comprehensive assessment of factors affecting obesity in Japan and their implications for global health

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This project was completed on time, with the collection of data on the Japanese food environment from multiple sources. Data on prices and food availability was obtained from a private database covering food sales at supermarkets and convenience stores, while information on food consumption was obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey. A comprehensive set of documents covering food policy in the EU and Japan were obtained in multiple languages, and have been compiled into a multi-country review of agricultural and food policies and their relationship to food environments and obesity.The project also completed a review of obesity trends and food risks in the UK, which found a similar cohort effect in women as has been identified in men in Japan. Consistent excessive calorie consumption since 1960 was also identified in this review, showing that growth in obesity in the UK is not a consequence of recent dietary changes, but reflects long-held food culture and consumption patterns in the UK which have not occurred in a similar form in Japan.This study has concluded that the food environment in Japan is much safer and less obesogenic than that in the EU and especially in the UK, and that agricultural and food policies related to the food environment can work at a generational level to prevent obesity.