2014-04-05

Too fat to invade Taiwan

The Chinese are putting on the pounds. That would be the ones in China...the ones over here already are.

If you've ever met an x-generation chinaman (or, more commonly, chinawoman) where x>2, you'll have noticed they tend to be...uh...a little on the chunky side. I've known a couple of them, and they certainly had no problem swelling to western size after a couple generations of western diet.

You probably shouldn't read too much into that, really. After all, getting bigger is a sign of more nourishment, not less. One of Martok's favourite stats about North vs. South Korea is this:

A 2006 study of 1,075 North Korean defectors aged 20 to 39 put the difference for adults at 4 inches for men and 2.5 inches for women. A 2004 study said the difference was 2.3 inches for young men and 1.6 inches for young women.
So China getting bigger is, on average, a good thing. Though it comes as a small consolation to Chinese Generals, who are finding that their soldiers are getting too fat for their military equipment.

Of course, no fat people story can't be told without referencing the United States. It's the law. Fortunately, the American soldiers are moving the other direction:
Instead of getting bigger and stronger, our guys are decreasing (in size), only to come back for about 3-4 weeks at the end of the summer to try to get back up to where they were before.