All This Progress Is Killing Us, Bite by Bite
这一切的发展逐渐地置我们于死地
Gregg Easterbrook
格雷格•伊斯特布包鲁克
Your great-great grandparents would find it hard to believe the Boeing 747, but perhaps they'd have a harder time believing last week's news that obesity has become the second-leading cause of death in the United States. Too much food a menace instead of too little!
你们的曾曾祖父母们会很难相信有波音747的存在,但是也许他们更难相信上周的新闻,那就是在美国肥胖已经成为导致死亡的第二大原因。过多的食物成了一种威胁,而不是食物不足!
A study released by the federal Centers for Disease Control ranked "poor diet and physical inactivity" as the cause of 400,000 United States deaths in 2000, trailing only fatalities from tobacco. Obesity, the CDC said, now kills five times as many Americans as "microbial agents," that is, infectious diseases.
联邦疾病控制中心发布的一份研究将“不良饮食和缺乏锻炼”列为2000年40 万美国人死亡的原因,仅次于抽烟导致的死亡。联邦疾病控制中心表示,现在肥胖导致的美国人的死亡人数是“微生物传染源”(即传染病)导致的死亡人数的5倍。
Moon landings might seem less shocking to your great-great grandparents than abundance of food causing five times as many deaths as germs; OutKast might seem less bizarre to them than the House passing legislation last week to exempt restaurants from being sued for serving portions that are too large.
由食物的丰富导致的死亡人数是病菌导致的死亡人数的5倍,这看起来也许比登 上月球更让你们的曾曾祖父母们震惊。美国众议院上周通过立法,豁免了饭店因提供过于大份的食物而被起诉,比起这个,流浪者合唱团对他们来说看起来也许就没那么怪异了。
Your recent ancestors would further be stunned by the notion of plump poverty. A century ago, the poor were as lean as fence posts; worry about where to get the next meal was a constant companion for millions. Today, America's least well-off are so surrounded by double cheeseburgers, chicken buckets, extra-large pizzas and supersized fries that they are more likely to be overweight than the population as a whole.
让你们的近代祖先们更为震惊的是“肥胖的贫穷”这个概念。一个世纪以前,穷人们瘦得像栅栏桩一样;让数百万人一直担心的是下一顿饭的着落。如今,美国最不富裕的人们周围充斥着双层芝士汉堡、炸鸡桶、超大的比萨饼以及超大份薯条,以至于他们比整体人口更容易超重。