Fifty-four percent of Japanese women are dieting to lose weight, while 41 percent of teenage girls categorized as being underweight are trying to get thinner, according to a health ministry survey.
"Extremely underweight young women are likely to face irregular menstruation and sterility. It is necessary for them to maintain a healthy weight," a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry official said, referring to the poll released earlier this week.
The ministry divided about 9,900 respondents over 15 years old into three categories -- fat, normal and underweight -- and checked the difference between their perception of their bodies and their actual shape.
Of underweight women, 41 percent in their teens and 18 percent in their 20s are trying to lose more weight. Most men consider their bodies to be more or less the shape they really are, but 71 percent of teenage girls and 67 percent of women in their 20s consider themselves fat, even though they are categorized as normal.