Asia's War With Heart Disease

Few people should have a healthier heart than Yoshifusa Miyagi. The 57-year-old politician has spent his entire life on Okinawa, a Japanese island once envied for being home to the longest-lived population on earth, thanks, it was believed, to a diet consisting mainly of fish, vegetables, rice and other foods low in saturated fat. But over the years, the American military presence on the island has produced a profound shift in local eating habits, introducing artery-clogging quantities of beef and deep-fried snacks. Among other fast-food outlets, Okinawa boasts 44 McDonald's, including Japan's first branch, opened in 1976. Since 2000, Okinawans have...