Koreans Are Skinny

A recent survey showed that Korean people are the skinniest among most developed countries. It's a figure that comes as no surprise after being here for 8 months. I used to think that media influence in the US was harsh to overweight people, but it's on a whole different scale here. I'm 5'10" and 185 pounds. I'm a monster here. You should see the lengths that people go to here to maintain a skinny frame. I think skinny is the most pertinent word. Korean citizens are not necessarily going about maintaining a smaller frame in a healthy way. I hear teenage female students constantly talking about going on diets which constitute of not eating anything for a few days. Usually, there is the realization of an added bonus. They can save their food money to buy new, smaller clothes.

Being from a bigger family, I've always been a little more sensitive to weight related issues, but the fact that only 3.5% of Korean people are overweight is a staggering statistic. I think the obsession is taken to quite an extreme with several aging Korean beauties trying several different approaches to losing weight without breaking a sweat. Sweat is looked down on in Korea. Genetically, Koreans simply sweat less, so sweating is seen as a sign of lower class labor due to the extra work that must be done to break a sweat. Personally, I think it stems more from the fact that sweat will mess up the makeup that Korean women liberally apply in 30 minute intervals throughout the day. Where am I going with this? Simply that the US is too fat, but Korea may be too skinny for its own good when it comes to overall health.

Getting back to weight loss in Korea, here are some examples of Korean workout equipment. The general idea is that body movement will translate into weight lost.

These videos are not mine, but they do give you a good idea of what a typical exercise area in Korea looks like.



Exercise parks in Korea


I'm not saying that all of the equipment is useless, but come on, some of these are just sideways swings.

Here's my personal favorite.

From Screwing with the new camera

I think that this is an actual truck driving simulator......for your health. When I think of a healthy physical role model, I immediately think about a trucker clad in flannel steering his way down I-55.