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Michiko Ohashi, a member of pop group Pottya, has her meal at a fan meeting celebrating her birthday in Tokyo, Japan, October 16, 2016. Competition is cutthroat among Japan's thousands of pop idol wannabes, but a unique concept is winning fame for a band of “chubby” girls deploying their cheeky cuteness to combat prejudices against obesity. Despite one of the lowest rates of obesity in the developed world, Japan has a growing number of underweight young women, who rely on excessive dieting to satisfy society's emphasis on being slim. Heavy people are the frequent target of jokes in the media and use of the derogatory “debu”, or “fatso”, remains common. Enter “Pottya”, a pop group named after a slang word for chubby and consisting of four young women who are not especially hefty to Western eyes, but well above average weight in Japan. Members range in weight from 63 kg (139 lb) to 87 kg (192 lb) for the 26-year-old Ohashi, and their average of 76 kg (168 lb) is about 26 kg (57 lb) over the Japanese average for women aged 13 to 18, according to the Health Ministry. Their body mass index, which compares weight to height, ranges from 27.4 to 31.2. Doctors consider an individual with a BMI above 25 to be overweight, and one above 31 obese. Pottya has passionate devotees, both male and female, many of whom describe themselves as overweight. Fans gather to meet Pottya members for a high-calorie lunch each month, with the menu of one recent meal featuring rice, noodles, chicken and potatoes – all fried. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
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