Japanese Lifestyle during Childhood Prevents the Future Development of Obesity among Japanese-Americans

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a Japanese lifestyle during childhood could protect against the future development of obesity-associated metabolic diseases by comparing native Japanese with Japanese-Americans in whom genetic factors are the same. METHODS: Study subjects were 516 native Japanese and 781 Japanese-Americans who underwent medical examinations between 2007 and 2010. Japanese-Americans were divided into 444 first-generation immigrants (JA-1), who were born in Japan, and 337 second- or later-generation descendants (JA-2), who were born in the United States. The JA-2 group was then divided into the kibei subgroup (N = 79), who had moved to Japan before the age of 18 years and later returned to the United States, and the non-kibei subgroup (N = 258), who had never lived in Japan. RESULTS: The JA-2 group had the highest percentages of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes compared with native Japanese and JA-1. Furthermore, among JA-2, the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in the kibei subgroup was significantly lower than that in the non-kibei subgroup. The prevalence of diabetes in the kibei subgroup also tended to be lower than in the non-kibei subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of obesity and metabolic diseases differed with residence in Japan during childhood among Japanese-Americans. These findings indicate the possibility that Japanese lifestyle during childhood could reduce the future risks for obesity-associated metabolic diseases.