Background: Childhood obesity is a pressing global public health challenge, marked by significant disparities in prevalence and management across countries. Japan and the United States offer contrasting approaches to addressing this issue, presenting a valuable opportunity for comparative analysis.
Objective: This review examines the effectiveness of public health policies, cultural dietary habits, and lifestyle factors in combating childhood obesity in Japan and the United States. It aims to identify actionable insights to inform global strategies for obesity prevention.
Results: Japan exhibits one of the lowest childhood obesity rates globally, attributed to prevention-focused policies such as the food education program, stringent school lunch standards, and culturally ingrained healthy eating practices. These efforts are complemented by active lifestyle promotion through urban planning and school-based physical education programs. In contrast, the United States faces higher obesity rates due to systemic challenges, including socioeconomic disparities, reliance on processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, and inconsistent implementation of federal programs like the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed).
Conclusions: This review highlights Japan's success in aligning public health initiatives with cultural norms to achieve sustainable outcomes. In the United States, systemic barriers and cultural disconnects hinder obesity prevention efforts. Recommendations include adopting integrated, prevention-focused policies, addressing socioeconomic inequities, redesigning urban environments to promote active living, and fostering global collaboration. This comparative analysis underscores the importance of culturally tailored, multidimensional strategies for addressing childhood obesity and improving public health outcomes worldwide.