Call me paranoid, but I’m really worried about what my wife eats these days. This is the fourth installment in a series about my personal experience of being pregnant in Japan (or perhaps I should say, of my wife being pregnant). Although I hope that some of the observations have value for gaijin of both sexes, I’m intentionally writing this series from my own perspective - a Gaijin Father / Japanese Mother. There is no topic better than pregnancy for old wives tales to prevail and it seems that the topic of food - what you can, can’t or shouldn’t eat - really takes the cake when it comes to misconceptions in not only Japan but every country in the world. Especially when it comes to something as important as the health of your (or your wife or your baby’s) body, these stories really play on your conscience. But surely there must be one single, factual answer out there? I really wish that there had been a resource out there to tell me at the beginning what was right and what was wrong. I don’t necessarily achieve that here, but hopefully I can shed some light on the contradictions you will run up against when comparing notes with your Japanese partner. (Before going ahead you might like to read the first, second and third installments of this series first.)
One of the things that has consistently surprised me is the huge difference in nutritional information found in Japanese books vs. English books. I’m a firm believer that all human beings are the same and that we all require the same fundamental building blocks of life. While recommended intake for normal (non-pregnant) people differ from person to person a little bit according to your BMI, I personally have been amazed at the sheer scale of the difference in recommendations between our two cultures. According to Wikipedia, the average height of Japanese women is about 8% smaller than in the West (US, UK, etc). There is even some research out there suggesting that Asian babies weigh 6% less than Western babies when born. But does a 6-8% difference justify a vastly reduced vitamin intake?
One of the things that has consistently surprised me is the huge difference in nutritional information found in Japanese books vs. English books. I’m a firm believer that all human beings are the same and that we all require the same fundamental building blocks of life. While recommended intake for normal (non-pregnant) people differ from person to person a little bit according to your BMI, I personally have been amazed at the sheer scale of the difference in recommendations between our two cultures. According to Wikipedia, the average height of Japanese women is about 8% smaller than in the West (US, UK, etc). There is even some research out there suggesting that Asian babies weigh 6% less than Western babies when born. But does a 6-8% difference justify a vastly reduced vitamin intake?
1 件のコメント:
I liked reading your stuff on stippy a while ago. Mainly because it is one of the only sources of info out there!
My (Japanese) wife and I are now expecting, and the things that are really different are starting to appear.
Reacting to food, over reacting to Vitamin intake (for the love of God...), little tiny things that back in America no one would even flinch over.
So thanks for writing up that series!
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