‘Not body-shaming’: Indonesia’s Health Minister defends controversial viral remarks over men’s jean size
Budi Gunadi Sadikin had earlier said that a man who buys jeans larger than size 33 inches is obese and those who are obese are likely to “meet God sooner”, drawing public pushback.
Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during an interview with Reuters at his office in Jakarta on Feb 6, 2025. (File Photo: Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Health Minister has defended his controversial comments calling men with a jeans size of 33 inches or more “definitely obese” and “more likely to meet God sooner.”
Budi Gunadi Sadikin’s remarks drew a wave of criticism from netizens across the country.
“I’m not body-shaming anyone,” Budi said on Wednesday (May 14) as quoted by local news outlet Jakarta Globe.
“I’m simply interpreting a health tip in a way people can understand.”
Earlier the same day, Budi had said that a man who buys jeans in sizes above 32-33 inches is “definitely obese”.
“Those who are obese will definitely meet God sooner than those who wear a size 32,” he said as quoted by local news platform Antara.
“According to Indonesia’s Health Ministry standards, a healthy waistline for men is 90cm or less,” Budi explained during the launch of three new healthcare services alongside Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung in Central Jakarta.
The three new health programmes are ‘Pasukan Putih’ or White Force, JakCare and JakAmbulans aimed at making healthcare more accessible to the public.
He added that a simple way to check a healthy waistline size is by referring to the size of jeans one usually wears.
The 90cm figure Budi cited is approximately 35.4 inches.
In the wake of criticism online, Budi clarified that his intention was to help the public understand the dangers of abdominal obesity without relying on technical medical language.
“Visceral fat tends to accumulate around the abdomen. If it spreads to other organs like the heart or liver, it can become very dangerous,” Budi said on Wednesday, as quoted by local media.
He advised the public to keep their body mass index (BMI) under 24 to reduce the risk of health conditions linked to visceral fat, such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
“I don’t expect most people to immediately understand BMI or its health implications, so I used pant size as a relatable reference,” he was quoted as saying by Jakarta Globe, in defence of his earlier controversial statement.
BMI measures the ratio of height to weight of a person to estimate the amount of body fat.
Budi drew public criticism for failing to account for height differences, which can naturally result in larger waistlines.
“Who says that anyone who buys pants above size 32 inches is definitely obese? Maybe he is just over 170cm tall,” a netizen commented on Instagram, in response to a post on the minister’s statement by news outlet Kumparan.
“He (Budi) claims it is not body shaming, yet he points fingers at people wearing that size, saying they will die sooner. This minister keeps making blunders,” the same netizen added.
“Sir, I am 183cm tall, if I bought size 33 pants, they’d look like hotpants on me,” another netizen wrote.
Some netizens even questioned whether Budi had considered President Prabowo Subianto when making the statement.
“What’s the president’s pant size, sir?” netizen @aksaravivani wrote, also on Instagram.
“Is he taking a jab at the president? That’s harsh! Is he not afraid of being removed from office?” said netizen @kokokeuangan.
At the health event in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, the Health Minister had also emphasised the importance of regularly checking blood pressure, in addition to monitoring waist circumference.
He advised those with blood pressure above the normal limit of 120/80mmHg to immediately visit a community health centre or ‘Puskesmas’, where treatment services are available free of charge.
“Don’t act tough if you have high blood pressure, get it checked and treated right away,” he was quoted as saying by Kumparan.
