英国成欧洲"最胖"国家

Britons are the fattest people in Europe, with one of the world's fastest obesity growth rates, according to a leading international think-tank.

The UK comes top out of 20 European Union nations, with almost one in four people so fat they could face an early grave.

Levels of fatness in Scottish children are second worst in the world, behind the US, while children in England are eighth worst.

Overall, in a study of citizens of the 33 richest countries, the UK is fifth behind the US, Mexico, Chile and New Zealand.

Developed nations are getting fatter, warns the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which produced the report.

The Paris-based watchdog claims the growing costs of healthcare and wasted resources are making obesity a top priority for many governments.

Report author Franco Sassi, a former London School of Economics lecturer, puts the blame on modern lifestyles.

He said: 'Food is much cheaper than in the past, in particular food that is not particularly healthy, and people are changing their lifestyles. They have less time to prepare meals and are eating out more in restaurants.

'There is a frightening increase in the epidemic. We've not reached the plateau yet.'

According to the report, the lifespan of an obese person is up to 10 years shorter than that of a normal-weight person – the same loss of lifespan incurred by smoking.

It shows 24 per cent of men were rated obese and 25 per cent of women in 2008 in the UK.

In addition, 42 per cent of men are overweight and 32 per cent of women, meaning that up to two in three people have their health put at risk by their weight.

In Scotland, latest figures show 35 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds are overweight or obese, compared with 29 per cent of children aged five to 17 in England.

据一家国际领先的智囊团提供的报告显示，英国人是全欧洲最胖的人，而且英国是世界上肥胖率增长速度最快的国家之一。

英国的肥胖率居20个欧盟成员国之首，有四分之一的人口可能会因为过于肥胖而早早进入坟墓。

苏格兰儿童的肥胖水平仅次于美国，居全世界第二，英格兰儿童的肥胖水平居第八位。

总体来看，在这项面向33个最富裕国家民众的研究中，英国人的肥胖率居第五位，仅次于美国人、墨西哥人、智利人和新西兰人。

这份报告是由经济合作与发展组织撰写的，他们发出警告称，发达国家的人口正变得越来越胖。

经济合作与发展组织总部在巴黎，他们宣称，因为造成医疗保健费用的不断增加和资源的浪费，肥胖问题已成为许多国家政府亟待解决的问题。

报告作者、曾任伦敦经济学院讲师的弗朗哥•萨西将肥胖问题归咎于现代生活方式。

他说：“食品价格相比过去要便宜得多，尤其是那些不太健康的食品，同时人们正在改变他们的生活方式。他们做饭的时间少了，到外面餐馆就餐的次数多了。”

“肥胖蔓延的速度令人担忧，而且还没有停滞的迹象。”

这份报告显示，肥胖者的寿命比正常体重者要短10年——这跟吸烟导致的寿命缩短年限相当。

报告显示，2008年，英国24%的男性和25%的女性被列为过于肥胖。

此外，42%的男性和32%的女性体重超标，这意味着英国多达三分之二的人口因为体重而存在健康隐患。

最新数据显示，苏格兰12至15岁的儿童中，有35%体重超标或肥胖，而英格兰5至17岁的儿童中有29%被归入此列。

Vocabulary:

plateau: a time of little or no change after a period of growth or progress （发展、增长后的）稳定期，停滞期

incur: if you incur something unpleasant, you are in a situation in which you have to deal with it（招致；遭受；引起）