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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between daily television viewing duration and weekly fast food intake of American and Japanese college students.

From the archival database of lifestyle study (Kobayashi, 2007), the relevant variables were chosen and reanalyzed.

In 222 Japanese participants, there were no significant differences between the infrequent (less than 60 min) and the frequent (60 min and more) television viewers regarding their weekly fast food intake. However, in 147 American participants, the frequent (60 min and more) television viewers indicated significantly larger intake of fast food per week than the infrequent (less than 60 min) television viewers.

Due to the limited sample size, the results of this study might lack generalizability. Further research on this issue should be conducted in the future.

The findings suggested possible influences of television viewing upon fast food intake of American college students.

There were few studies that investigated the media effects on fast food intake of both American and Japanese college students. This study might be the first one.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between daily television (TV) viewing duration and weekly fast food consumption of Japanese high school students.

The total of 325 Japanese high school students from Miyazaki, Japan (148 female and 176 male students and one student with no gender identification) answered the survey in order to assess their daily TV viewing duration and weekly fast food consumption.

The results indicated that low TV viewers spent significantly less money on weekly fast food consumption than either moderate or high TV viewers; and male students spent significantly more money on weekly fast food consumption than female students.

Owing to the limited sample size, the results of this study might lack generalizability. Further research on this issue should be conducted in the future.

Similar to studies conducted in different countries, the results of the present study provided evidence to suggest that cumulative exposure to TV was linked to the increase of fast food consumption in Japanese high school students.

There were few studies that investigated the media effects on fast food consumption of Japanese high school students. This study might be the first one.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between grade point average (GPA), body mass index (BMI), and fast food intake, and to test five different hypotheses regarding these target variables.

In total, 57 American and 72 Japanese college students are recruited from two different universities and the participants provide their gender, age, weekly fast food intake, GPA, and their actual height and weight are measured.

It is found that GPA is negatively correlated with BMI and fast food intake, and BMI and fast food intake are positively correlated in the American sample. A negative correlation between GPA and fast food intake is also found in the Japanese sample. Although no differences of GPA are found in regard to the physiques of both American and Japanese samples, a marginally significant difference of GPA is found in the American sample in regard to their fast food intake. In the Japanese sample, a significant difference of GPA is found only in women, but not in men regarding their fast food intake.

People may need to consider possibly negative implications of fast food intake upon academic achievement of college students. There might be cultural differences in the meaning of fast food consumption between the USA and Japan.

The present study is the first cross‐cultural study to investigate the relationship between physique, fast food consumption, and academic achievement of American and Japanese college students.

The purpose of this study is to investigate cross‐cultural differences between American and Japanese college students' body type under/overestimation regarding their own bodies within the framework of self‐construal theory.

Information from 137 American college students and 160 Japanese college students was collected in using a survey method. Their height, body weight, gender, and self‐estimated body types from three different options (underweight, normal weight, and overweight) was collected in order to assess the relationship between self‐estimated and real body types of these participants. The real body type based on one's body mass index and the self‐estimated body type were compared for each participant.

Japanese students were found to be more in the underweight category and less in the overweight category than American students. It was also found that Japanese students, and female students in general, were more likely to overestimate their body types and American students, and male students in general, were more likely to underestimate their body types.

The present study used self‐report survey method and should be considered a pilot study. In future research, the height and weight of participants should actually be measured to obtain more reliable data. Future research should investigate other possible psychological factors for creating different body types between different cultures.

The present study was the first cross‐cultural study regarding body type under/overestimation regarding their own bodies between American and Japanese college students.

Although several anthropologists have reported various cultural differences between East Asians and Americans regarding their usage of fast food based on their ethnographic fieldwork, a quantitative study to test the validity of such findings is necessary for advancement of this research field. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively investigate cultural differences and similarities between American and Japanese college students regarding the usage and meaning of fast food.

A total of 130 Japanese college students (82 female and 48 male) in Miyazaki, Japan and 70 American college students (43 female and 27 male) in Maine, USA answered the survey in order to assess their conceptualization and usage of fast food.

The results indicated that: both Americans and Japanese assumed that fast food was a meal instead of a snack, Japanese and women in general were more likely to visit fast food restaurants with others instead of going alone than Americans and men in general, and Japanese were more likely to share their ordered fast food items with others and stay at fast food restaurants for a longer duration than Americans.

Due to the limited sample size, the results of the present study might be strengthened with further investigation of different samples.

Like qualitative studies conducted before, the results of this quantitative study provided evidence to suggest that there are cultural differences in the meaning and usage of fast food between East Asians and Americans.

There were few quantitative studies on cultural differences in the meaning and usage of fast food between East Asians and Americans. The present study might be the first such study.

The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in both American and Japanese college students and their diet, exercise, and sedentary behavior.

The total of 407 college students from the USA (162 students aged 17‐53 years) and from Japan (245 students aged 18‐32 years) answered the survey in order to assess their body types, diet, exercise, and sedentary behavior.

Although the author found a lower mean BMI (body mass index) in the Japanese sample than in their American counterparts, there were not many differences in their diet, exercise, and sedentary behavior between them. The Japanese sample consumed their breakfast more regularly, were more likely to live with their parents, went to fast food restaurants less often and spent less money there than their American counterparts.

The present study used self‐report survey method and it can be considered as a pilot study. In the future study, the height and weight of participants may be actually measured for obtaining more reliable data. Breakfast skipping, single living, and frequent usage of fast food restaurant might be crucial factors for overweight and obesity problems in American college students.

The present study is the first cross‐cultural study regarding body types, diet, exercise, and sedentary behavior between American and Japanese college students.