We always see people comparing Japan’s diet with American’s diet but what about our home country, Singapore? How different are we compared to them?
As an Asian country like Japan, there will be some similarities and differences.
School meals:
In Japan, schools use fresh ingredients and provide homemade lunch in schools. They have a set meal that alternates every day.
However, In Singapore, schools have stalls that sells different types of food. Some food sold may be considered processed. As the school cannot stop students from buying and consuming these processed foods, it may be frequently consumed.
Eating out:
Singaporeans’ lifestyle tend to be very busy and thus, most families eat out. However, when comparing it to Japanese people, the percentage of them eating out is lesser. As food delivery is more used, processed food such as fast food is frequently consumed. These foods contain a lot of oil and fat.
When purchasing food, Singaporeans also tend to buy drinks or consume water when eating. This is different compared to Japan as they usually don’t consume any drinks such as bubble tea or canned drinks when they eat and usually drink the soup provided with the meal.
Dessert:
As our desserts tend to be more like Americans’ deserts, it usually contains a lot of sugar. These high sugar treats are lesser seen in Japan as they tend to use fruits that are naturally sweet and try to use less sugar.
Home meal:
They tend to eat rice, fish and vegetables for all 3 meals every day unlike Singaporeans. Japan also tend to have more variety in each meal and use healthier proteins such as beans and don’t consume as much meat.
Singaporeans, however, consume a lot of meat during barbeques and steamboats which is on the rise lately. Japan’s meals also usually contain fruits which Singapore is trying to learn.
You can check out the difference between USA and Japan in terms of Fast food: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW4jOlyj-sM
Ref: https://www.insider.com/biggest-differences-japanese-and-american-diets-2018-4