英國成歐洲"最胖"國家

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.

據一家國際領先的智囊團提供的報告顯示，英國人是全歐洲最胖的人，而且英國是世界上肥胖率增長速度最快的國家之一。

英國的肥胖率居20個歐盟成員國之首，有四分之一的人口可能會因爲過於肥胖而早早進入墳墓。

蘇格蘭兒童的肥胖水平僅次於美國，居全世界第二，英格蘭兒童的肥胖水平居第八位。

總體來看，在這項面向33個最富裕國家民衆的研究中，英國人的肥胖率居第五位，僅次於美國人、墨西哥人、智利人和新西蘭人。

這份報告是由經濟合作與發展組織撰寫的，他們發出警告稱，發達國家的人口正變得越來越胖。

經濟合作與發展組織總部在巴黎，他們宣稱，因爲造成醫療保健費用的不斷增加和資源的浪費，肥胖問題已成爲許多國家政府亟待解決的問題。

報告作者、曾任倫敦經濟學院講師的弗朗哥•薩西將肥胖問題歸咎於現代生活方式。

他說：“食品價格相比過去要便宜得多，尤其是那些不太健康的食品，同時人們正在改變他們的生活方式。他們做飯的時間少了，到外面餐館就餐的次數多了。”

“肥胖蔓延的速度令人擔憂，而且還沒有停滯的跡象。”

這份報告顯示，肥胖者的壽命比正常體重者要短10年——這跟吸菸導致的壽命縮短年限相當。

報告顯示，2008年，英國24%的男性和25%的女性被列爲過於肥胖。

此外，42%的男性和32%的女性體重超標，這意味着英國多達三分之二的人口因爲體重而存在健康隱患。

最新數據顯示，蘇格蘭12至15歲的兒童中，有35%體重超標或肥胖，而英格蘭5至17歲的兒童中有29%被歸入此列。

Vocabulary:

plateau: a time of little or no change after a period of growth or progress （發展、增長後的）穩定期，停滯期

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）