I live in Taiwan. Like Japan you really don’t see a lot of overweight/obese people. What they call “fat” here is probably what an American calls “average.”

It’s easy to find healthy food in Taiwan, but I wouldn’t say all Taiwanese food is very healthy though. They eat their share of fried foods cooked in the worst possible cooking oil. People like to paint carbs as the devil but it’s hard to eat a Taiwanese meal without rice or noodles. Eating instant noodles is popular here as well too.. I think the key differences between in and the US and why people don’t have as many health problems.

1. Portion sizes. My athlete appetite never went away so some of my Taiwanese friends are shocked by how much I eat and wonder where the heck it all goes.
2. Lack of excess sugar. Taiwanese sweets really aren’t that sweet compared to American sweets. When my parents visited me, my dad said most of the desserts don’t feel like dessert because many of them were sweetened versions of foods that commonly eaten as salty (ex sweet bean soup, sweet dumplings, sweet bean paste inside of a pastry, tofu pudding, sweet taro, sweet congee), so they felt “healthy” instead of eating a calorically dense sugar and fat combo like most American desserts.
3. Cities are more walkable. Some apartment buildings and schools don’t have elevators. I work in a building that has 4 floors, so I’m walking up and down the 4 flights of stairs 5 days a week.
4. Drinking soup broth. At my school, the children sometimes drink soup broth with their lunch. The soup may have seaweed, some other veggies or some pieces of meat in it, but it’s mostly liquid. Drinking something warm after eating helps you feel full. Many adults drink tea which also helps one feel fullness. There are tea shops everywhere. The orders are customized so you can choose the temperature of your tea (icold, room temperature, or hot) and how much sugar you want (if any).