'Exterminate the metabolic syndrome!' That was the mission of Japan's government when two vice-ministers for health announced in 2006 that they would cut their waistlines. Encouraged no doubt by the media's keen scrutiny of their progress, they duly did so, with Keizo Takemi's girth coming down from 100.5 to 95 cm over six months. As was clear from a wide-ranging survey of nutrition issues at last month's Pacific Health Summit in Seattle, Washington, behavioural change is a key element in tackling the twin crises of under-nutrition and obesity, which are all too easily forgotten in the competition for the world's attention.
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