QA讨论：为什么中国人、日本人和韩国人这么瘦?

Josephine Stefani , Apparently 82.53% Chinese.
First of all, the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans aren’t thaaaaaaaaat thin. The rest of the world is just fat (sorry not sorry).
The average BMI of people* in those countries is probably around 20–22 (though I’ve seen stats as high as 23). Which is not thin, not fat, just … somewhat there. In fact, the skinniest East Asian population is probably Vietnam whose average BMI is 19 (and they’re not often considered East Asian in this particular regard anyway). Having known a lot of Vietnamese people, I would probably agree with that figure.
Okay, I do admit that amongst young people aged 15–25 there are a lot of underweight people, but that is also the age group most likely to buy into excessively strict beauty standards. Once the kids pop out, I think most people calm down somewhat.
And yes, obesity is growing in those regions too, just like anywhere else in the world.
I’m not going to say that East Asians are “naturally skinny” because this isn’t all that true if you compare them with healthy children from other cultures (example). But what I will say is that East Asians have higher amounts of body fat compared to other ethnicities, and this predisposes us to health risks at a lower weight. But this also means that we also look more “floofy” compared to other ethnicities. A 163cm girl at 48kg would be underweight at any ethnicity, but an Asian would look more fleshy than girls of other ethnicities at the same stats.

首先，中国人、日本人和韩国人都没那么瘦。只是世界上其他地方的人比较胖而已(对不起，但这是事实)。
这些国家的人的平均BMI(身体质量指数)可能在20-22左右(尽管我认识的人中有数据高达23的)，他们既不瘦也不胖。事实上，最瘦的东亚人可能是越南人，他们的平均BMI是19(虽然他们通常不被认为是东亚人)。我认识很多越南人，我会对这个数字表示认同。
好吧，我承认在15-25岁的东亚年轻人中有很多人体重过轻，但这个年龄段的人也是最有可能接受过于严格的美丽标准的。等她们的孩子们一出生，我想她们中的大多数人都会冷静下来。
事实上，这些地区的肥胖人口也在增加，就像世界上其他地方一样。
我不会说东亚人“天生瘦骨嶙峋”，因为如果你把他们和其他文化的健康儿童相比，这就不完全正确。但我想说的是，与其他种族相比，东亚人的体脂含量更高，这使我们在体重较轻的情况下更容易面临健康风险。但这也意味着，与其他种族相比，同等体重下，我们看起来更“粗犷”。一个身高163cm，体重48公斤的女孩在任何其他种族中都是体重不足的，但是在同样的数据中，一个亚洲女孩看起来会比其他种族的女孩更丰满。

But if you wanted reasons for why East Asians are less likely to be overweight, my thoughts below:
·Not overeating: Portions are usually smaller than in Europe (and probably the US). We eat a large variety of food - yes we do have our noodles and rice and oily food, but we also have our vegetables, fish, meat, soups. And at least in my household - as I know communal eating is practised more in some cultures than others - we have them all in every meal. And we eat as much as we want until we’re full. And then we stop, because everyone at the table needs to get their share. Have a look at the meal below - this is probably what a family of four would eat. How many calories would these people really be consuming?
·Moderate amounts of sugar: Let me put it out there - East Asians (especially young women like myself) looooove our sweets. We’d go crazy over that new hyped up matcha crepe cake or egg waffles or cute black sesame buns or Korean shaved ice. We might even have them every day (gasp). But most people just have one, enjoy it with their friends, split them if need be, and then move on with their day. We don’t have excess sugar throughout the day. In actuality, a lot of East Asian dishes are quite “sweet” (as in, sugar is added into the meals, think teriyaki sauce or tamagoyaki) but they’re not pumping up all their dishes with high fructose corn syrup and drinking a tall sugary coffee drink every day.

但如果你想知道为什么东亚人都不太容易超重，我的想法如下:
·不要吃得过多: 东亚人每餐的份量通常比欧洲人(可能还有美国人)要少。我们吃各种各样的食物—是的，我们吃面条、米饭和油腻的食物，但我们也吃蔬菜、鱼、肉和汤。至少在我的家里—我知道在某些文化中集体用餐比其他用餐方式更盛行—我们每餐都在一起吃。我们想吃多少就吃多少，直到吃饱为止。然后我们就停手了，因为桌子上的食物需要满足每一个人的份量。看看下面这顿饭吧—这可能是一家四口一顿饭所吃的食物。这些人到底摄入了多少卡路里呢?
·适量的糖: 我这么说吧—东亚人(尤其是像我这样的年轻女性)非常喜欢我们的甜食。我们会为新推出的抹茶可丽饼、鸡蛋华夫饼、可爱的黑芝麻面包或韩国刨冰而疯狂，我们甚至可能每天都去吃(喘气)。但大多数人每次只吃一个，我们会和朋友们一起享受甜点带来的快乐，然后再活力满满地继续这一天。我们一天中不会摄入过多的糖分。事实上，很多东亚菜肴都很“甜”(食物中会加入糖，比如照烧酱或玉子烧(日本蛋卷))，但我们不会在所有菜肴中都添加高果糖浆，也不会每天都喝高糖咖啡。

·Less ultra-processed food: East Asians love our packaged snacks - we’ve got some of the best snacks in the world (fight me). But most of our meals - even those bought in corner shops - are actually cooked, or the very least, recognisable as food. Even street food. Especially restaurant food.
·Love of food: There is a reverence for food - good food - amongst Asians that is rarely replicated in the West. Whenever I’m out with my European friends we talk about politics, work, travel, concerts, people. Whenever I’m out with my Asian friends we talk about what we ate when we travelled, the best new restaurants we found, the new types of food the other should try, the food we are missing, the food we are craving, and argue over our individual cultures’ food … all this usually over a meal of some sort. Even Asians who aren’t foodies will still perk up whenever you mention their particular culture’s dish that you enjoy or made recently. And I suspect that this ironically leads to less weight gain in the long run because when you care a lot about what you eat, you’re more discerning with food, and this reduces mindless consumption and mindless eating.

·少吃超加工食品: 东亚人喜欢我们的袋装零食—我们有一些世界上最好的零食(别反驳我)。但我们的大部分食物—甚至那些在街角小店买的食物—实际上都是煮熟的，或者至少是能被认出食材的食物。甚至街头食品，特别是餐厅的食品。
·热爱食物: 亚洲人对食物—好吃的食物—有一种敬畏，这种现象在西方很少见。每当我和我的欧洲朋友外出时，我们会谈论政治、工作、旅行、音乐会、各种各样的人。但当我与我的亚洲朋友外出时，我们会谈论我们在旅行的时候吃了什么美食、我们发现的好吃的新餐馆、应该去尝试的新类型的食物、我们没接触过的食物、我们想去体验的食物、以及争论我们各自家乡的食物的优劣……所有这些讨论通常发生在一顿饭期间。即使不是美食家的亚洲人，只要你跟他们提到你喜欢的或你最近做的他们特定文化的菜，我怀疑他们也会兴奋起来。讽刺的是，从长远来看，这样做会抑制你体重的增加，因为当你很在意自己吃什么时，你对食物的眼光就会更敏锐，这就会减少无意识的消费和无意识的饮食。

·Lots of activity: You have to walk if you live in East Asia. At least in the cities. And if you’re not in the cities, you’ll probably be doing other things, like riding bikes to places you can walk. In comparison, maritime Southeast Asia is actually much more of a car-based society than East Asia is, and this is reflected in the average BMI*. Europeans walk a lot too, and this is apparent when comparing their average BMI vis-a-vis Americans. One thing I will say that I have noted in big East Asian cities is that there is a sneakily high amount of walking that you won’t realise you’re getting in. East Asian subway stations are bigger, sometimes with dozens and dozens of exits, cities are more convoluted with more streets, housing is more expensive so you have to live further out, you’d have to cross larger squares or take more detours through pedestrian bridges etc etc.
There are probably many other reasons, but here’s just a small sextion.
*Average BMIs are a decent measure of trends across populations, but they’re a highly inaccurate measure of health on an individual level.
 
·很多运动: 如果你住在东亚，你必须时常步行，至少在城市里是这样。如果你不在城市，你可能会通过其他方式去运动，比如骑自行车去可以步行去的地方。相比之下，沿海地区的东南亚实际上比东亚更像一个汽车社会，这反映在平均BMI指数上。欧洲人走路也很多，这一点在对比他们与美国人的平均BMI指数时会很明显。我想说的一件事是，我注意到，在东亚大城市，人们毫无察觉地进行着大量的步行，你不会意识到你正在运动。东亚的地铁站要更大些，有的甚至有几十个出口，那里的城市更复杂，有更多的街道，且住房更贵，所以你必须住得更远，你必须穿过更大的广场，或者走更多的路，以及通过人行天桥等等。
可能还有很多其他的原因，但这里列举的只是其中一小部分。
*平均体重指数是衡量人口发展趋势的恰当指标，但从个人层面来说，它是非常不准确的健康指标。

Hanson Hsu, Kitchen Knife Enthusiast, Food Lover
Some of it is cultural. It’s shameful to be fat, it’s viewed as undesirable, especially if you’re female. Your relatives will not hesitate to point out that you gained weight and joke about you needing to eat less, male or female. Sucks but it’s true, and it helps people stay fit.
Some of it is from food. Soup tends to be eaten more than in the west. Tea is very popular. But contrary to popular opinion, Asian food is not necessarily more healthy. Fried foods and carb-heavy stuff like rice and bread feature heavily in all kinds of cultures, especially in the most convenient foods. However, a lot of it has to do with portion control. A sandwich you get in, say, Taiwan or Japan is going to be noticeably smaller than the typical sandwich you buy in the US. That bento box will probably contain more veggies than a burger.
There’s also a great push toward eating fruits and veggies. Although the concept of some foods being ‘cooling’ and some being ‘warming,’ for instance, is not based on reality, this serves to reduce the tendency to lean toward the heaviest and most calorie-dense foods all the time. Your mom is going to force you to eat veggies and not just that fried chicken, to balance the ‘warming’ fried food with some ‘cooling’ vegetables. This means you ultimately eat less of that other food. And when you grow up, it often becomes habit and gets passed on to the next generation.

其中一些原因是文化上的。肥胖在东亚是可耻的，被认为是不受欢迎的，尤其是女性。无论男女，你的亲戚看到你胖了都会毫不犹豫地指出你体重增加了，并开玩笑说你需要少吃点。这看起来很糟糕，但这是真的，它能帮助人们保持健康。
食物可能也是原因之一。东亚人喝的汤往往比西方人喝得多，茶也很受欢迎。但与流行观点相反，亚洲食物并不一定更健康。油炸食品和富含碳水化合物的食物，比如米饭和面包，在亚洲各国文化中都占有重要地位，尤其是在方便快捷的食物中。然而，这在很大程度上与份量控制有关。比如说，你在台湾或日本买到的三明治会明显比你在美国买到的三明治要小，便当盒里的蔬菜可能比汉堡里的还要多。
也有一个很大的推动是吃水果和蔬菜。例如，尽管有些食物是“凉的”，有些是“暖的”，这是不是很健康，但这有助于减少人们总是倾向于吃高脂肪、高热量食物的倾向。你妈妈会强迫你吃蔬菜，而不仅仅是炸鸡，让你用一些“冷”的蔬菜来平衡“热”的油炸食品。这意味着你最终会少吃其他高热量食物。当你长大后，这通常会成为一种习惯，并将这个习惯传递给下一代。

A lot of it has to do with physical activity. Work and school culture is super intense and in many areas, people rely on public transportation. This means rushing to that train or bus stop on foot, walking to the office, walking to get lunch, walking back to the office, walking back to the bus or train stop, and walking to go buy groceries near your home. The average person in Japan and Taiwan and Korea and China takes significantly more steps per day than someone from the US. I think the fitness culture is actually more robust here in the US, but from my experience, more people consistently get more activity in Asian countries. Not the same as going to the gym and lifting 300 pounds, but the constant movement is beneficial in keeping weight down. The human body is really designed more to walk and take advantage of its incredible stamina than to lift huge weights in explosive exertions.
Asians are also more vulnerable to obesity-related illness. An Asian and someone else, like a Caucasian, can both be overweight and have the same BMI but the Asian is more likely to have weight-related health issues (due to the fat having a tendency to build in the abdominal area rather than become more distributed throughout the body). Further motivation to not let yourself go to far. Same as other genetic predispositions, like Native Americans being more susceptible to alcohol addiction, caucasians from northern Europe being more likely to develop cystic fibrosis, and Africans being more likely to have sickle cell traits.
 
这和体力活动也有很大关系。这三个国家的工作和学校氛围都非常紧张，在许多地区，人们依赖公共交通出行。这意味着人们需要步行冲向地铁站或公交站，步行去办公室，步行去吃午餐，步行回办公室，步行回公交站或地铁站，步行去你家附近的杂货店买东西。日本、韩国和中国的普通人每天走的步数要比美国人多得多。我认为美国的健身文化实际上更有活力，但从我的经验来看，亚洲国家的人更经常运动。和去健身房举重300磅不同，持续的运动对保持体重是有益的。人类的身体天生就更适合走路和利用其惊人的耐力，而不是剧烈运动或举起巨大重量的物体。
亚洲人也更容易患上与肥胖相关的疾病。一个亚洲人和其他地区的人，比如高加索人，都可能超重，会有相同的BMI指数，但亚洲人更有可能有与体重相关的健康问题(由于脂肪倾向于堆积在腹部，而不是分布在全身)，大肚腩会让亚洲人失去走得太远的动力。这和其他族群的遗传易感因素一样，比如美洲土著更容易酗酒，北欧高加索人更容易患囊性纤维化，非洲人更容易患镰状细胞病。
 
Ivan Sabev, former Sr Project Coordinator
I think there are a few reasons.
Genes. I am not a biologist but I think one reason is this has to do with genes. Certain people have a propensity to gain a lot of weight quickly while others might eat a lot and still be skinny.
Diets. Chinese, Japanese and Koreans eat more seafood and other type of food that is less common for other people. Also they don’t eat much bread or eat dairy products as much as Europeans or N or S Americans for example.
Climate. As someone who’s been to China I can tell that it has to do with climate too. If you live in a humid, hot climate you tend to sweat more. So it is easier to loose weight and stay skinny if you live in a more tropical climate. There might be exceptions to this but it could be one factor in my opinion.
Active/work life. The Chinese are the most hardworking people I’ve met. I’ve heard similar stories about the Japanese. I don’t know about the Koreans. But in general I think if you keep yourself busy, don’t sit on the coach for hours watching TV you won’t get as fat as people in other countries.
City development/walking. I think Asians tend to walk more than say Americans and their cities are more oriented to people walking and taking public transportation than driving cars. This also contributed to why people are skinny in my opinion.
 
我认为有以下几个原因。
基因。我不是生物学家，但我认为其中一个原因是这与基因有关。有些人有着容易增加体重的体质，而有些人吃了很多却仍然很瘦。
饮食。中国人、日本人和韩国人会吃更多的海鲜和其他类型的食物，这对其他人群来说不太常见。他们也不像欧洲人或南北美洲人那样吃太多的面包或乳制品。
气候。作为一个去过中国的人，我认为这也和气候有关。如果你生活在潮湿炎热的气候里，你往往出汗更多。所以，如果你生活在热带地区，减肥和保持苗条会更容易。可能有例外，但在我看来，这可能是一个因素。
工作生活中的活动。中国人是我见过的最勤劳的人，我也听说过日本人的类似故事。我不知道韩国人怎么想。但总的来说，我认为如果你让自己忙起来，不要几个小时坐在沙发上看电视，你就不会像其他国家的人那么胖。
城市发展导致的步行。我认为亚洲人比美国人更倾向于步行，他们城市的出行方式更倾向于步行和乘坐公共交通而不是开车。在我看来，这也有助于解释为什么人们都很瘦。



Amy Chai, MD, Internal Medicine, MS, Epidemiology, author
GENETICS.
You’re welcome.
Eating piles of white rice (with a GI higher than table sugar) and noooodles (white, of course) drenched in literal chunks of animal fat, and entire cans of dipping oil is commonplace. It is a nonstop food-orama in Asia. Food is almost a religion. Diet drinks? WTF is that? How about drinking a sticky pitcher of watermelon juice and warm beer?
So yes I am the white person in all of this. Everyone else is skinny as hell without trying. I had to stop cooking because I could not continue the massive food eating without blowing up like a balloon. My DH gleefully took over food prep and now eats even more. By the way, that size 30 waist has not changed in 30 years. My kids are quite slim, but do not have as much of an appetite and will eat vegetarian and low carb with me.
Not all Asians can tolerate this Asian eating style. There are some Asians, particularly in the North and in Korea that gain weight easier. God forbid you are an Asian woman with some weight! You will be traumatized by an extremely intolerant culture. So you will not eat if you know what is good for you. This does not affect Asian men in the same way.
Us northerners will survive the winter and we will not starve.
 
我们可以从遗传学中找到答案。
在亚洲，人们吃成堆的白米(血糖指数比蔗糖高)、泡满动物脂肪的面条(当然是白色的)和一整罐蘸油的做法很常见。这是亚洲一场不间断的美食盛宴，食物在这里几乎是一种信仰。无糖饮料? 那是什么鬼? 喝一罐黏糊糊的西瓜汁和热啤酒怎么样?
所以是的，我是身处其中的白人。其他人一直这么吃却还是瘦成这样了，而我不得不停止大吃大喝，因为如果不停下来我会像像气球一样膨胀起来。我无法继续吃这么多食物了。我的老公高兴地接管了我的食物储备，现在他吃得更多了。顺便说一下，他在30岁时的腰围30年来都没变过。我的孩子们都很瘦，但是胃口不太好，他们会和我一起吃素食和低碳水化合物。
不是所有的亚洲人都能忍受这种亚洲式饮食方式的。有些亚洲人，尤其是在朝鲜和韩国，那里的人更容易发胖。上帝禁止你成为一个有些重量的亚洲女人! 极端偏狭的文化会对你造成心理创伤。所以如果你知道什么对你有益，你就不会吃。但这对亚洲男性没有同样的影响。
我们北方人能熬过冬天，也不会挨饿。

Allen Allington, 26 countries, 1500 days in Asia. Lives in China part time
I have a theory based on my extensive travels experience in China and what I have read. I have only briefly visited Japan or Korea so will stick with China.
If you travel to China you might notice women (men too) under 30 seem taller, bigger then older people. Younger women have larger breasts and butts.. not huge but they are just bigger overall.. I see college male students of 6ft tall frequently. That’s not what we picture when we think of a Chinese males.
WHY: diet. My 59 year old Chinese wife thinks she is fat at 102 pounds but she is perfectly built for the average Chinese women over 30. Tiny might be the best descxtion.
She tells of the famines/drought in China in the late 60s and early 70s, eating just one bowl of rice a day and one small piece of vegetable once a week.. many of the rural Chinese were eating the same way, thanks to nature and few government social safety nets. That lack of calories over a period of time while doing physical activity builds bodies, thin or compact but strong.
BTW: Much of Asia suffered the same famines and drought.

根据我在中国的广泛旅行经历和我读过的书，我有一个理论。我只短暂访问过日本或韩国，所以我将继续访问中国。
如果你去中国旅行，你可能会注意到30岁以下的女性(男性也一样)看起来比老年人更高、更胖。年轻的女人的胸部和臀部都比较大，不是很大，只是总体上更大。我经常看到6英尺高的男大学生。根据我们对以前中国男性身高的印象，这不是我们所想象的。
原因: 饮食。我59岁的中国妻子认为她102磅的体重很胖，但对于30岁以上的普通中国女性来说，这种体重下的她的身材是完美的。
蒂尼有一个很好的描述。
她讲述了中国在60年代末和70年代初因为干旱而产生的饥荒，那时的人们每天只吃一碗米饭，每周只吃一小块蔬菜。由于自然条件和社会保障的缺失，许多中国农村人的饮食方式那时都是一样的。在一段时间内缺乏热量的情况下，进行体育活动会使身体变得苗条或紧凑。
顺便说一句: 亚洲大部分地区当时也经历了同样的干旱和饥荒。

My mom told of European refugees coming to America and noticing “how fat” American children were in the early 1950s. Because of the war so many people in Europe went hungry for long periods, unusual thinness or being skinny was common in war torn Europe. Americans meanwhile are pretty healthy, farmers and their children fed even better.
Much of the body morphology is genetic built over a few thousand years of 1000 calories a day or less, the body adapts, making humans more compact, bodies more efficient and therefore thinner.
Back to where I began. The Chinese diet has added significant calories overall in the last 30–40 years as their economy boomed, meaning bodies can be heavier and bigger thanks to nature.

我妈妈说，20世纪50年代初，欧洲难民来到了美国，他们很快注意到了美国儿童“有多胖”。由于战争，许多人在欧洲挨饿了很长一段时间，不寻常地瘦弱的人们在被战争撕裂的欧洲很常见。与此同时，美国人相当健康，农民和他们的孩子吃得更好。
大部分身体形态是遗传的，在几千年的时间里人类每天摄入1000卡路里的能量或更少，人类的身体适应了，这使人类的身体更紧凑，身形更有效率，因此身材更瘦。
回到我开始的地方。在过去的30-40年里，随着中国经济的繁荣，中国人的饮食总体上增加了大量的卡路里摄入，这意味着由于社会自然进步的原因，人们的身体会变得更重、更大。


Daniel Ross, former Teacher
Three reasons:
1.Genetic predisposition. They started farming a long time ago, which makes them at least as well-adapted physiologically as Caucasians are at breaking down cereal-based carbohydrates. This is not the case with Native Americans, who started farming a lot later; and with Bantu blacks, who never managed to develop methods of agriculture advanced enough for the majority of their nutrition to be based on plant-based carbs. That’s why black people living in America have an increased incidence of diabetes and Mestizos are proportionally more obese than any other group.

三个原因:
1.遗传。他们很早以前就开始农耕了，这使得他们在生理上至少和白种人一样能很好地分解以谷物为基础的碳水化合物。但美国原住民的情况并非如此，他们开始耕种的时间要晚得多; 还有班图黑人，他们从未设法开发出足够先进的农业方法，这让他们的大部分营养都基于植物性碳水化合物。这就是为什么生活在美国的黑人患糖尿病的几率更高，而混血儿比其他任何群体都要肥胖。

2.A culture of restraint and decency. Being a glutton is as shameful in East-Asian societies as it used to be in European-derived ones until a couple of decades ago. If you stuff yourself like a pig in an East-Asian country, you aren’t applauded for “just being yourself” and doing what you feel like. You are being reminded by social shaming and derision that your choices are bad for you, and bad for society as a whole (you can’t have an army of fatties, now? not to mention the medical costs for the rest of us). You are — often explicitly — being told you are a fat glutenous pig.
3.I saved the most important reason for last. They have much better food. Most western food, especially American cheap fast-food has very low nutritional value for the calories it offers. Basically, you need to eat a lot more “American food” than you do “normal” food to get your daily requirement of nutrients, while the calories that make you fat are, gram by gram, the same for both. How did things get this way? — unrestrained capitalism is an obvious culprit: it’s better from the seller’s end for the consumer to buy two burgers instead `of one. What better way to make the consumer buy more food than by keeping him unsatiated?
 
2.一种克制和体面的文化。直到几十年前，作为一个贪吃的人，在东亚社会都是可耻的。如果你在一个东亚国家像猪一样吃东西，你不会因为“做你自己”和做你想做的事而受到称赞。社会上的羞辱和嘲笑会提醒你，你的选择对你是有害的，对整个社会也是有害的(现在你能想象军队里是一群胖子吗? 更不用说我们其他人为肥胖带来的疾病所支付的医疗费用了)。你—通常是明确地—被告知你是一只肥猪。
3.我把最重要的原因放在最后。他们有更好的食物。大多数西餐，特别是美国的廉价快餐所提供的营养价值很低。基本上，你需要吃比你吃“正常”食物更多的“美国食物”来获得你每天所需的营养，而使你变胖的卡路里，每克都是一样的。事情怎么会变成这样呢?-不受约束的资本主义是显而易见的罪魁祸首: 从卖家的角度来看，消费者买两个汉堡比买一个更好。还有什么比让消费者不满足更能让他们买更多的食物呢?

Beth Carrera, former Professional Cynic
I’m sure it is a combination of genetics and cultural eating habits. But keep in mind that not all Chinese, Japanese and Korean people are really thin. Something I haven’t seen mentioned here that I have noticed is that although Asians may seem to eat a banquet every night, they actually don’t. There is a greater distinction between every day eating at home and celebratory eating with friends and family. They don’t do the latter every day. Every day eating is more simple, and tends to be more vegetables and lean protein. I have a Filipino friend who eats fish with a tiny bit of rice for breakfast. The whole family is thin. But they can put on a spread for a holiday or celebration!! It’s just not an every day thing. It is not that once in a while over eating that makes people obese. It’s what we do every day. Americans are going through the drive-through every day. And that’s why you do see overweight Asian Americans. They to have adopted some bad habits. Not in as high of numbers as other ethnic groups, but they are not immune to being overweight. I am 20 pounds overweight and if someone has an issue with that, oh well, it’s none of their business. I imagine most overweight Asians feel the same way.
 
我相信这是基因和文化饮食习惯综合作用的结果。但是请记住，不是所有的中国人、日本人和韩国人都很瘦。有一点我在评论区没有看到，但我注意到的是，虽然亚洲人似乎每天晚上都吃宴席，但他们实际上并没有。每天在家吃饭和与朋友和家人一起庆祝吃饭之间有很大的区别，他们并不是每天都这样做。他们每天的饮食更加简单，并且趋向于多吃蔬菜和瘦肉蛋白。我有一个菲律宾朋友，早餐吃鱼配米饭，他们全家人都很瘦。虽然宴会可以为节日或庆祝活动添彩!! 但这不是每天都会发生的事。并不是偶尔的暴饮暴食导致人们肥胖的，这是我们每天都在暴饮暴食造成的。美国人每天都要去汽车餐厅，这就是为什么你会看到超重的亚裔美国人，他们已经养成了一些坏习惯，虽然没有美国其他族群的肥胖的人口多，但他们也难免超重。我超重20磅，如果有人对此有意见，好吧，这不关他们的事。我想大多数超重的亚洲人也是这么想的。
 
Dante Wong, Transmedia Writer
Everyone has already mentioned diet and activity levels so I’m taking the more humorous - but obviously still true - path.
My sister tells me she stays thin so that she can fit into her dresses!
Now, at 172 cm and around 51 kg (~ 5′8″, 112 lbs) or so, she isn’t particularly big for an Asian woman, but even she sometimes has difficulty fitting into her dresses.
For example, she has quite the collection of qipao, including those with a more contemporary cut.
Any woman who has worn a qipao knows that it can be a very unforgiving dress, one that ruthlessly exposes any unflattering parts (read: excess weight) to all and sundry.
So, in order to fit - and keep on fitting - into all her dresses, my sister keeps a vigilant eye on her physique.
She jokes that the moment she gains what she refers to as “meatiness”, the uncles, aunts, and cousins and extended family will definitely make it a point to point it out to her, so the chances of that happening acts as a secondary source of motivation for her to remain slim.
Some pictures of qipao:
(I own none of the pictures below)
 
每个人都已经提到了饮食和运动的影响，所以我将采取更幽默的—但显然仍然是正确的路径来解答这个问题。
我妹妹告诉我她要一直瘦下去，这样她就能穿裙子了!
现在，她身高172厘米，体重51公斤左右(约5英尺8英寸，112磅)，对于一个亚洲女性来说她不算特别胖，但即使是她有时也很难穿得下裙子。
例如，她收藏了很多旗袍，包括那些更现代剪裁的旗袍。
任何一个穿过旗袍的女人都知道，旗袍是一种非常无情的衣服，它无情地把身体上任何不好看的部分(也就是超重的部分)暴露在所有人面前。
所以，为了穿上合身的衣服，我妹妹一直在密切关注自己的体形。
她开玩笑说，一旦她变得如她所谓“肉感”。叔叔、阿姨、堂兄弟和家庭其他成员一定会将她当做焦点一样关注。所以这种事发生的几率充当次要的动力来源来促使她保持苗条。
一些旗袍图片:
(下面的照片都不是我的)




 
Anonymous
Even the thinnest people in China, Japan and Korea are always thinking how they can be thinner. Sometimes they hide this and say they eat whatever they want and never think about their weight. But, you have to listen to them and be friends for a long time, you will see the concern about gaining weight is always present except in small bouts where they show off that they ‘don’t care’. 
Now compare the west: there is no pressure to be thin whatsoever, nada.
I don’t think the diets are that much healthier either, pasta and noodles and rice vs bread are pretty much the same thing.
Another factor might be the reaction to brain work. In the west the reaction is sitting and eating. In the east that is not the reaction.
Things are also changing now, I see plenty of chinese, japanese and korean that are overweight and young (early 20s), so I don’t think it is genetic.

在中国、日本和韩国，即使是最瘦的人也总是在考虑怎样才能更瘦。有时她们会隐藏这一点，说她们想吃什么就吃什么，从不考虑自己的体重。但是，她们的话你只听听就好，你得和她们做长时间的朋友，你就会发现，除了偶尔炫耀一下自己“不在乎”外，她们一直都很担心长胖。
现在来比较一下西方: 无论如何没有要瘦的压力，一点也没有。
我也不认为他们的饮食更健康，意大利面、面条、米饭和面包几乎和亚洲是一样的。
另一个因素可能是大脑潜意识的反应。在西方，人们是下意识坐着吃东西。而在东方，情况并非如此。
现在情况也在发生变化，我看到很多中国人、日本人和韩国人都很年轻(20岁出头)就超重了，所以我不认为这是遗传造成的。
 
Daniel Kipp, B.S. Psychology, Eastern Washington University (2018)
They’re not thin. It’s western cultures that are too fat. The reality is people in western cultures have seen so many fat generations they don’t know what healthy really looks like anymore. Just do a random sampling of people in public pictures with crowds from both the 1920’s and now. Count the number of clearly fat people in both pictures. It’s easy to see the difference. It’s like the western world has this weird form of reverse body dysmorphic disorder where they can’t tell what a healthy person (not a dedicated gym / fitness person) looks like anymore.
**edit** ok well someone pointedly explained to me there is a issue in China with too many thin people. I managed to find research study confirming it. However, while the study does show a significant population with being too thin, I still stand by most of my statement. To be thin but not healthy - The body-image dilemma may affect health among female university students in China

他们不瘦，是西方人太胖了。事实上，在西方社会中，人们已经在这一代人中见到了如此多的肥胖人士，他们已经不知道健康的样子到底是什么样了。从20世纪20年代和现在的公众的照片中随机抽取一些人。数一数两张照片中明显肥胖的人的数量，其中的差别很容易就看得出来。这就像西方世界有一种奇怪的反向身体畸形失调，他们无法分辨一个健康的人(不是一个专门健身的人)长什么样。
好吧，有人直截了当地向我解释中国有太多瘦子的问题。我找到了一份研究报告来证实这一点。然而，虽然这项研究确实表明有相当一部分人过瘦，但我仍然坚持我的大部分观点。
瘦而不健康—身体形象困境可能会影响中国女大学生的健康。（链接）