Thin Japanese feel fattest

Nearly three-quarters of Japanese female high-school students see themselves as overweight, despite being thinner on average than their peers in the US, China and South Korea, a survey showed.

Nearly three-quarters of Japanese female high-school students see themselves as overweight, despite being thinner on average than their peers in the US, China and South Korea, a survey showed.

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The survey by the Japan Youth Research Institute also showed that Japanese high-school students of both sexes rank the lowest in terms of self esteem.

The Tokyo-based institute polled students from Japanese, US, Chinese and South Korean high schools on dietary habits, exercise and other factors to gauge their physical, mental health.

In Japan, 71% of high school girls consider themselves overweight, the survey showed. That was higher than 57% in South Korea, 39% in China and 29% in US. That result comes despite the fact that the Japanese female students had the lowest average body mass index among those surveyed from the four countries, at 20.0.