School lunches in Japan

Japan manages a rare achievement for a developed country when it comes to feeding its children ― high scores for nutrition but very low obesity rates. One major key? School lunches.

A landmark report by the UN's children agency UNICEF released Tuesday shows Japan topping the charts for childhood health indicators, with low rates of infant mortality and few underweight children.

Experts say there are various factors at work, including a health-conscious society and regularly check-ups for children required by law, but a nationwide school lunch program also plays a key role.

"School lunches with menus that are created by nutritionists are provided to all primary schools and the majority of junior high schools throughout Japan,," Mitsuhiko Hara, a pediatrician and professor at Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University, told AFP.

The lunches are mandatory — no packed lunches allowed ― and while they are not free for most, they are heavily subsidized 补助）.Each meal is designed to have around 600-700 calories balanced between carbohydrates, meat or fish and vegetables.

"School lunch is designed to provide nutrition that tends to be lacking in meals at home," Education Ministry official Mayumi Ueda told AFP. "I think it contributes to the nutritional balance necessary for children."

Unlike the cafeteria system operated in some Western countries, Japanese school lunches are usually served in the classroom. Pupils frequently dish out the food to each other and clean up the room afterwards. There is no choice of meal, and no concessions offered for vegetarians, or anyone with religious restrictions.

The lunches are intended not only to feed children, but to teach them. "There's also a daily broadcast at school to explain the nutritional elements contained in the school lunch of the day, and this is a good way to educate kids,” Hara said.

"School lunch is positioned as part of education under the law,'? Ueda said. "It's not just about eating food, but children learn to serve, and clean up on their own?"

The Japanese government studies nutrition and eating habits in Japan annually, and uses the results to shape what goes into the school meals, she added.

And there are other factors at work, Hara acknowledged. "Because many Japanese are health-conscious, they try to eat a variety of food, which is good," he said. "And we're taught to eat seasonal food, which also contributes to good health. Japan is one of the rare countries that pay so much attention to food that is associated with specific seasons," he added.

Hara said another factor in Japan is regularly mandated childcare health checks. Parents of infants receive reminders from the local government, and children are given health checks at school, including measuring height and weight.

Still, even Japan has not escaped entirely the growing trend toward overweight children and childhood obesity, which in Japan, like elsewhere, tends to affect those from less wealthy families.

"Children in poverty are more likely to be overweight because families try to cut costs," Hara said. "As a result, they eat less protein but consume more carbs and sugar, which leads to obesity."

School lunches are all the more important to children in such situations, he said.

China is a unified nation consisting of many different ethnic groups. Fifty-six different ethnic groups make up the great Chinese national family. Because the Han people accounts for more than ninety percent of China’s population, the remaining fifty-five groups are generally referred to as “ethnic minorities”. Next to the majority Han, the Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, and Uygur peoples comprise the largest ethnic groups. Although China’s ethnic minorities do not account for a large portion of the population, they are distributed over a vast area, living in every corner of China.

Particularly since the achievement of China’s opening and reform policy, the central government has increased investment in minority areas and accelerated their opening to the outside world. This has resulted in a rise of economic development in these areas. Each of China’s ethnic minority groups possesses a distinctive culture. The Chinese government respects minority customs, and works to preserve, study, and collect the cultural artifacts of China’s ethnic minority groups. The government vigorously supports the development of minority culture and the training of minority cultural workers, and fosters the development of traditional minority medicine.

The relation among China’s ethnic groups can be described as “overall integration, local concentration, and mutual interaction.” Concentrations of ethnic minorities reside within predominantly Han areas, and the Han people also reside in minority areas, indicating that there have been extensive exchanges among China’s ethnic groups since ancient times. With the development of the market economy, interaction among ethnic groups has become even more active in the areas of government, economics, culture, daily life, and marriage. Linked by interdependence, mutual assistance, and joint development, their common goals and interests creating a deep sense of solidarity, China’s ethnic groups resemble a great national family, together building Chinese civilization. (290 words)

There are many different types of houses in the UK. You may see detached, semi-detached, terraced houses or even end-of-terrace houses on a typical street. You might see apartments in wealthier parts of town, or people living in bungalows, preferring to live a life without stairs. Strange cottages may dot the countryside, while heading to the cities you could see any number of types of flats, including houses turned into flats, studios and duplexes. But one thing you will notice is that many houses come from different eras, and asking a British person about their ideal home, many of them will have a specific period property in mind.

For some, it could be Victorian houses, which are often seen with bay windows, high ceilings, stained glass doors and colored brickwork. During the Victorian era, a huge number of houses, particularly terraced, were built in towns and cities to accommodate vast numbers of workers who were moving from more rural areas.

Georgian architecture refers to houses built during the period of 1714 and 1830 during the rules of four British monarchs. Usually houses with this architectural style have a more symmetrical theme, both internally and externally, with a small square garden in front. For those not into older properties, new builds from the 1990s onwards offer better insulation against the cold and newer electrics. And those who prefer less repairs could always go with the open-plan or minimalist look of the modern era.

So, whether it’s high ceilings, better insulation, brickwork, bungalows or square gardens, people in Britain have a wide variety of preferences when it comes to where they live. And their ideal home may just simply be a case of what style feels like home.