農村體重增長居然是全球肥胖率上升的主力軍大綱
Rates of obesity worldwide have nearly tripled since 1975, and the prevailing belief is that city living is to blame. But a major study that covers 112 million adults suggests that weight gain in rural areas is responsible for much of this increase.
自1975年以來，全球肥胖率幾乎增加了2倍。究其原因，人們普遍認爲城市生活難辭其咎。但一項涵蓋1.12億成年人的重大研究表明，農村地區的體重增長才是肥胖率上升的主力軍。
Members of the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration - an international group of health scientists - analyzed over 2,000 studies of how body mass index (BMI) has changed around the world from 1985 to 2017. (BMI is a height-to-weight ratio that is a popular measure of obesity, though not without its flaws.) The results, published today in the journal Nature, show that during this time period, more than 55 percent of the rise in BMI globally came from rural populations - specifically rural populations in emerging economies, which include many places in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. "In the world as a whole, BMI has been going up faster in rural areas than in urban areas," study co-author Majid Ezzati, an expert in global environmental health at Imperial College London, said in a press briefing.
傳染性疾病風險因子協會的成員--由衛生科學家組成的國際協會--就2000多項研究分析了1985年至2017年全球體重指數的變化。（體重指數指的是身高體重比例，是肥胖症的流行指標，但該指標也存在缺陷。）分析結果於今日發表在《自然》雜誌上，表明：在這段時間內，全球55%以上的體重指數上升來自於農村地區--特別是新興市場國家的農村地區，包括拉丁美洲、亞洲和中東等地區。"全世界範圍內，農村地區體重指數的上升速度高於城市地區，"研究的共同作者馬基德·伊扎提（Majid Ezzati）在一次新聞發佈會上說道。他是帝國理工學院全球環境健康領域的專家。
This directly contradicts the previous belief that people living in rural areas are less likely to gain weight because they eat healthier, uNPRocessed foods and do more physical labor. That may have been the case, continued Ezzati, but as rural areas industrialize, life starts to change. People don't need to walk to fetch water because they have running water. They don't need to walk to other places because roads are being built and cars are more common. These changes bring a lot of health benefits, added Ezzati, "but they also mean less moving around and less physical labor."
這與先前的觀念恰恰相反--生活在農村地區的人不太可能增重，因爲他們吃的更健康（都是未加工的食物）、乾的體力活也更多。以前可能是這種情況，伊扎提繼續道，但隨着農村地區工業化，他們的生活也發生了變化。他們不需要走很遠的路去提水，因爲自來水已接通。他們也不需要走到其它地方，因爲道路已修建、汽車已成常態。這些變化帶來了很多健康益處，伊扎提補充道，"但這也意味着運動和體力活的減少。"
As rural areas become wealthier, people living there can afford more food and, often, less healthy food. This means they're eating the same processed foods as their urban counterparts, without the other benefits of city living that make it easier to be physically active. Notably, there are more sports facilities and gyms in urban areas, and far more opportunities to walk.
隨着農村地區日漸富裕，村民們也有能力購買更多的食物，通常是不那麼健康的食物。這意味着他們和城裏人一樣，吃的也是加工過的食物；但與城裏人不同的是，他們更難獲得鍛鍊身體的益處，因爲城市裏有更多的運動設施及健身房、步行的機會也更多。
