Health

Online fitness coach reveals reasons why life expectancy in this country ranks among highest

A fitness coach who runs a weekly podcast on human health has looked into the reasons behind this population’s longer life expectancy.

Alejandro Martínez Vélez | Europa Press

AS USA

Update: Jun 20th, 2025 19:03 EDT

Japan boasts a population whose life expectancy is among the highest on the planet: with an average lifespan of 84 years, per data collected by the World Bank in 2023, the Asian giant ranks third in the world among nations and territories inhabited by more than a million people.

Japan has the highest life expectancy of all the G7 countries - a group of major advanced economies that also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Per the World Bank, Japanese people live for six years longer on average than Americans.

Why do Japanese people live longer? The verdict of a fitness coach

According to the online fitness coach Leo Alves, who hosts a weekly podcast on human health, Japan’s long-lasting population is largely a result of the country’s avoidance of obesity. And there are a number of apparent ways that Japanese people ward off excess weight and live longer, he says.

Alves, who draws on his experience of spending 15 months in the country between 2020 and 2021, pinpoints the following daily habits that he observed:

Eating smaller portions

“Smaller portions on smaller plates means you are likely to eat less than usual, as you must repeatedly order more.”

Using chopsticks

“Chopsticks potentially help slow it down. Using chopsticks may reduce the amount of food you shovel into your mouth at once.”

Following “Hara Hachi Bu”

“A Japanese teaching which instructs people to just eat until you’re 80% full.”

Enjoying easily available, nutritious food

“You can get healthy, readymade lunch boxes everywhere. These are called ‘bento boxes’.”

Avoiding liquid calories

“Westerners tend to drink many calories from soft drinks and sports drinks. Whereas in Japan, the main beverages tended to be the many differently-flavored teas.”

Using good public transport systems

“If you frequently use public transport and drive less, naturally that means a lot more walking. Because the train isn’t going to lead you from the doorstep of your house to the doorstep of wherever it is you want to go.”

Cycling regularly

“Cycling is prevalent in Japan due to its well developed urban cycling infrastructure. I saw so many people cycling - bikes were everywhere.”

Staying active in senior years

“Japan is the only place where I’ve consistently seen the elderly population go to the park and do calisthenics [exercise using body weight for resistance].”

What do other experts say about Japan’s life expectancy?

Alves’ focus on the crucial role of obesity echoes the conclusions of a 2020 paper published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (EJCN), which highlights the impact of Japan’s prevention of extreme overweight.

The country’s obesity rate is just 4.5%, per statistics shared by NPR - around 10 times lower than in the U.S.

Written by Dr. Shoichiro Tsugane, the director of Japan’s National Institute of Health and Nutrition, the EJCN paper explains that the Japanese population’s avoidance of obesity contributes to the nation’s reduced mortality from ischemic heart disease and cancer.

Lowering heart disease and cancer rates is key to raising a country’s life expectancy, agrees Dr. Martin Juneau of Canada’s Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal.

Dr. Tsugane and Dr. Juneau both laud the beneficial effects of the Japanese diet, which the latter describes as “unique”. The country’s diet is characterized by “low consumption of red meat, and high consumption of fish and plant foods such as soybeans and tea”, Dr. Juneau says.

As is explained to WebMD by the health expert Naomi Moriyama, Japanese eaters’ avoidance of red meats reduces their intake of “artery-clogging saturated fat”.

Moriyama adds that soy products are an excellent alternative to red meat, as they offer rich sources of protein without the saturated fat.

Meanwhile, commonly-consumed fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel contain plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, which aid heart health, Moriyama explains.

In line with Alves’ observation on the avoidance of liquid calories, Dr. Tsugane also highlights that popular Japanese beverages such as green tea are, crucially, “nonsugar-sweetened”.

According to Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, excessive sugar consumption can have significant consequences for human health.

“The effects of added sugar intake - higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease - are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Hu says.