一项新的研究证明，全球肥胖和超重儿童及青少年的数量在短短四十年内急剧增加。
The study was a project of researchers at Imperial College London and the World Health Organization (WHO). The findings were released this week at WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
该研究是伦敦帝国理工学院和世界卫生组织研究人员进行的一个项目。研究结果于本周在瑞士日内瓦的世卫组织总部被公布出来。
Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight.
肥胖是指身体存储了达到不健康程度的大量脂肪。肥胖者被认为是体重超重。
The researchers studied obesity rates among children and young people, between five and 19 years of age. They found that rates in this group increased from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016.
研究人员研究了5-19岁儿童和青少年的肥胖率。他们发现，这一群体的肥胖人数从1975年的1100万增长到了2016年的1.24亿。
This was one of the biggest epidemiological studies ever done. The researchers examined height and weight data for about 130 million people. They used this information to get the Body Mass Index measurements of the subjects.
这是迄今为止做过的最大的流行病研究之一。研究人员核查了1.3亿人的身高和体重数据。他们利用这些信息来获得受试者的身体质量指数数据。
The most striking changes have taken place in Middle Income Countries in areas such as East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America. The WHO defines Middle Income Countries as places where a person normally earns between $1,045 and $12,736 every year.
东亚、中东、北非和拉丁美洲这些地区的中等收入国家发生的变化最为明显。世界卫生组织将中等收入国家定义为人均年收入在1045到12736美元之间的地方。
Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London, was the chief writer of a report on the study. He was surprised by the speed of change.
伦敦帝国理工学院教授Majid Ezzati是这项研究报告的主要作者。他对这一变化的速度感到惊讶。
"So places that a few decades ago, there may have been very little obesity and a fair amount of underweight [children], suddenly are having bordering epidemics."
“几十年前来肥胖或体重不足儿童一直不太多的地方，突然就患上了这种近似的流行病。”
In countries where wages are higher, the growth of childhood obesity has slowed, but remains high. The United States had the highest obesity rates for this income group.
在工资较高的地方，儿童肥胖增长率已经有所放缓，但是还是很高。美国在这个收入群体中的肥胖率最高。
Researchers say the world's obesity problem is a result of food marketing and poor policymaking in many areas.
研究人员表示，全球的肥胖问题是食品营销和许多领域政策制定不完善造成的结果。
Ezzati notes that, in general, young people are not to blame.
Ezzati指出，一般来说，这不能怪到青少年头上。
"Rather than sort of being an individual's choice, it's hard environments that people choose their foods in – healthy foods being priced out of reach, and especially out of reach of poor, and unhealthy foods being marketed aggressively, together with perhaps not having a safe playing area for children, that are leading to weight gain."
“这并非个人的选择。人们很难去选择价格超出他们能力之外的健康食物，尤其是穷人。而且不健康食品在积极推销，再加上可能没有安全的儿童游戏区域，从而导致体重增加。”
Being overweight can cause many diseases later in life, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. Ezzati says obesity also has a big effect on children, with some evidence suggesting it can affect their educational performance.
超重可能会导致以后患上多种疾病，包括心脏病、中风、糖尿病以及一些癌症。Ezzati表示，肥胖对儿童也有很大影响，有部分证据表明，它会影响儿童的学习表现。
Underweight also a problem
体重不足也是一个问题
The study also looked at underweight children, which continues to be a major health problem in the world's poorest areas.
该研究还关注了体重不足儿童，这仍然是全球最贫困地区面临的一个重大健康问题。
Ezzati says the researchers found that India had the highest rates of moderately and severely underweight young people.
Ezzati表示，研究人员发现，印度青少年患上中度和重度体重不足的比例最高。
"We really need to deal with the two issues at the same time. So we can't wait to deal with underweight, and then worry about overweight and obesity. They are all different forms of malnutrition."
他说：“我们确实需要同时处理这两个问题，不能等到处理完体重不足，然后再来操心超重和肥胖。因为这两者都是不同类型的营养不良。
The report warned that if current trends continue, levels of child and adolescent obesity could pass those of moderately and severely underweight children by 2022. It said these problems are especially serious in some parts of Asia and African countries south of the Sahara Desert.
该报告警告说，如果目前的趋势继续下去，到2022年，儿童和青少年肥胖的数量可能会超过中度和重度体重不足的儿童。
Global solutions
全球化解决方案
The report is calling for policymakers to find ways to make healthy food more available at home and school, especially in poorer families and communities. It also calls for higher taxes on unhealthy foods.
该报告呼吁政策制定者找到家庭和学校更容易获得健康食物的办法，尤其是在穷人家庭和社区中。报告还呼吁提高对不健康食物征收的税收。
The WHO's Fiona Bull says effective, low-cost measures to lower childhood obesity are available.
世卫组织的Fiona Bull表示，降低儿童肥胖率存在有效和低成本的措施。
She said solutions include restricting marketing, taxing some food products, and creating better food labeling policies. She said that better labels will give people, "clear information about the contents of food ... like the salt, fat, and sugar content."
她说，解决方案包括限制营销，对一些食品征税，并制定更好的食品标签政策。她说，更好的标签能够给人们提供“关于食物成分的清晰信息，如盐分、脂肪和糖含量。”
Bull added that children should be spend less time playing games on the Internet or watching television, and instead turn to more physical activities and sports. She said obese children are likely to become obese adults. This means they risk early death from obesity-related diseases.
Bull补充说，孩子们应该少花时间玩网游或看电视，而是要转向更多的健身活动和体育活动。她说，肥胖儿童可能会成长为肥胖成年人，这意味着他们会冒着肥胖相关疾病导致的早逝风险。
I'm Anna Matteo.
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