Many countries have problems with increasing obesity and some of those countries either don’t recognize the issue, or are completely ignoring the situation. Japan, however, is not one of those lazy countries.

Ronald McDonald, the clown used to promote McDonald’s products, has been taken off Japan’s fast food menus. His replacement was a thinner woman in a bikini and high heels. This change “is part of a global effort by McDonald's to promote healthy living and to emphasize other products rather than burgers and chips.” As for the other countries, Ronald McDonald is still under the spotlight.

As a result of this, the clown seemed to have lost weight. Now, he is not only advertising their food, but exercising as well. In some commercials, people might have seen McDonald in a tracksuit, or juggling vegetables, or swimming. This is “to better represent McDonald’s menu, which now features a wider choice of fruit and vegetables.” This change in Japan is the most recent change taken by the US firm, who owns 50 percent of Japan's McDonalds, to improve its image, as well as improving the growing obesity levels around the world.

Before, Asian people did not have much food because it took a lot of work to produce only so little. It was mostly just grains, rice and vegetables. They barely consumed any calories at all.

Currently, Asian countries, like Japan, are transitioning towards the modern world, making more money from tourist attractions and spending it on fast, more convenient foods. In Japan, obesity has risen from about 3% to almost 10%. Physical inactivity plays a huge part of this increase as well. Kids these days are doing more jobs that only require sitting at a desk. They are not “engaging in daylong manual labor as their parents and grandparents did.”

As the westernization in Japan grows, there are more fast foods being seen everywhere.

Some Japanese people are still eating foods, like this sushi, but more and more people are eating like the Americans with burgers and soft drinks.