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Obesity boosts the risk of premature death
肥胖加大过早死亡的风险
Simply being overweight, but not obese, from an early age boosts the risk of premature death by a third—as much as smoking up to 10 cigarettes a day, researchers in Sweden reported on February 25.
瑞典的研究人员于2月25日称,从小超重但又不属于肥胖的人过早死亡的几率会提高1/3——这跟一天吸多达10支烟一样高。
People who are clinically obese by the age of 18 more than double that risk, putting themselves in the same danger zone as long-term heavy smokers of normal weight, they found.
他们发现,18岁前在临床上肥胖的人其过早死亡的风险会提高一倍，和体重正常的长期吸烟不节制者一样。
And combining the two factors accumulates the risk: an obese heavy smoker, for example, is nearly five times as likely to die prematurely than a non-smoker who is neither too thin nor too fat.
将这两个因素结合起来会加大过早死亡的风险:肥胖的烟鬼过早死亡几率是既不太胖又不太瘦且不吸烟的人的近5倍。
At least a billion people in the world are overweight, and nearly a third of them are obese, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity rates have soared over the last three decades, especially among children.
根据世界卫生组织(世卫组织)的资料,世界上至少有10亿人超重,其中近1/3的人属于肥胖类型。近30年来肥胖率不断飘升，尤其是在儿童中。
Earlier studies have shown that being excessively fat shortens lifespan and leads to increased rates of chronic disease such as diabetes and arteriosclerosis.
早先的研究已经证明，过度肥胖会缩短寿命,并导致如糖尿病、动脉硬化等慢性病发病率的增加。
But researchers have disagreed sharply up to now on whether being above ideal weight without crossing the line to obesity takes years off one’s life.
但研究人员直到最近还在超重但不肥胖是否会缩短人的寿命上存在严重分歧。
Nor have previous studies directly compared the impact on mortality of smoking and excess weight.
以往的研究也没有直接比较吸烟和超重对死亡率的影响。
The study designed by Martin Neovius of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm goes a long way to setdlng the debate, and shows clearly for the first time that being too heavy can be as dangerous as smoking a couple of packs a day.
由斯德哥尔摩卡罗淋斯卡研究所马丁内奥维乌斯所作的研究对该争论的解决大有帮助。该研究第一次清楚地显示了太胖和一天吸几包烟一样危险。
Neovius and colleagues analysed data for 45,000 men who underwent mandatory military conscription tests in Sweden in 1969 and 1970 at the age of 18.
内奥维乌斯和他的同事分析了1969年和1970年接受瑞典强制性征兵体检的45000个18岁男性的数据。
Data included participants，smoking habits, and their body-mass index (BMI)—weight in kilogrammes divided by the square of one’s height in meters.
数据包括参与者的吸烟习惯和他们的身体质量指数(BMI)——人的体重(单位为千克)除以身高的平方(单位为米)。
A BMI of 25-to-30 indicates being overweight, while above 30 means one is obese. The range of normal weight is 18.5 to 24.9.
BMI在25至30之间的为超重,而超过30即为肥胖。正常范围是18.5至24.9之间。
The follow up period was, on average, 38 years. During that time, 2,897 subjects died.
后续阶段是参与者平均在38岁时所作的调査。在此期间，有2897人死亡.
The lowest death rate, as expected, was among non-smokers of normal weight But researchers were surprised to find tbat being obese carried a greater risk of premature death than being a heavy smoker.
跟预期的一样,正常体重的非吸烟者死亡率最低。不过，研究人员惊奇地发现,肥胖的人过早死亡的风险比大烟鬼还高。
Even more startling, however, were the dangers of being overweight.
然而,更令人吃惊的是超重的危险。
“What we show is that for the overweight, there is a significantly increased risk of premature death, similar to smoking one-to-ten cigarettes a day,” said Neovius in a phone interview.
内奥维乌斯在电话采访中说广我们的研究显示,超重提高的过早死亡风险和每天吸10支烟一样。”
Two key studies in the United Statesone at the Center for Disease Control and the famous Nurses' Health Study at Harvardhad arrived at opposite conclusions on this question.
美国两个关键的研究——由美国疾病预防中心和著名的哈佛大学护士健康研究所所做，已经得出了关于这个问题的相反结论。
“Our results confirm the Harvard findings,” said Neovius, whose research was published in the British Medical Journal.
内奥维乌斯说我们的研究结果证实了哈佛大学的结论。”他们的研究发表在《英国医学杂志》上。
The two studies are highly complementary, he added. “We find exactly the same in men and they did in women," erasing any doubts as to possible differences across the sexes.
这两项研究的互补性很强,他补充说：“我们发现男性在这个问题上的确和女性完全一样。”这 排除了所有对性别差异的怀疑。
The Swedish study did find, however, that being severely underweight-a BMI of under 17— carried about the same risk of early death as being overweight or a light smoker.
但是，瑞典的研究确实发现，体重严重不足(BMI在17以下)和超重或轻度吸烟者过早死亡的风险是一样的。
Policy makers should take note of these results, and increase awareness of the risks related to being too fat, or too thin, Neovius said.
内奥维乌斯说,政策制定者应考虑到这些结果,并增加对于过胖或过瘦的危害的认识。
