中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
肥胖似乎總是和疾病聯系在一起的，可是事實真的如此嗎？本文的一些發現就證實肥胖其實并沒有那么可怕，相反為了追求苗條的身材而不斷地進行節食減肥對健康更加不利。
By Fiona Macrae
紫蘭選 墨石譯
|
It is the perfect excuse to push aside that salad and pat yourself on the slightly rounded tummy. Scientists have shown it may be better to stay fat than go on diet after diet. A study of thousands of obese men and women found that more than one in three were perfectly healthy or had only slight health problems. Contrary to the much-publicised message that one has to be thin to be well, they were no more likely to die at any given time than someone of an ideal weight. Indeed, they were less likely to be killed by heart disease. They were also in better health than those who had fought a constant battle with their weight by repeatedly dieting, only to pile the pounds back on. The researchers say there is more to good health than how a person tips the scales – and some people classed as overweight are fine as they are. Rather than try to shed their excess pounds, something that can do more harm than good if repeated time after time, they should simply concentrate on not putting on any more weight. The advice comes from researchers at Toronto’s York University who tracked the health of more than 6,000 obese men and women for an average of 16 years. They underwent medical and physical tests and their results were compared with those of thousands of people of normal weight. This clearly revealed that being slim isn’t always superior, according to the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. Those who are overweight but healthy may also exercise more and eat better than thin people who smoke to suppress their appetites. And a stressed-out, sedentary person of normal weight may be in worse shape than a plump person who exercises and keeps stress levels under control. The Canadian researchers said that rather than using body mass index, or BMI, a measure of weight compared to height, to judge whether a person needs to lose weight, doctors should look at overall health. A previous study found that pensioners who are slightly overweight live longer than those of a normal weight. The Australian researchers said a bit of extra padding may give someone the reserves needed to recover from illnesses. It is also possible that concern about the health of the overweight means that problems are spotted and treated earlier. |
最新的這個研究成果可是個絕佳的借口，可以讓你將無味的沙拉推到一旁，飽餐一頓然后心滿意足地拍拍你微微凸起的肚子。科學家指出，相對不停地節食減肥而言，一直保持肥胖的狀態可能更有利于你的健康。這項新研究調查了成百上千名肥胖者，結果顯示，將近三分之二的人身體完全健康或僅有一點小問題。 人們所熟知的傳統觀念是：你必須保持苗條才獲得身體健康，但是實際上，肥胖人群的壽命一點也不比那些擁有理想體重的人短，甚至他們因心臟病致死的幾率更小。他們也比那些不停地節食以便和自己的體重作戰的人更健康，因為不停節食會導致體重的不斷反彈。 研究人員稱很多因素都會影響健康，體重只是其中一個。很多超重的人身體都很健康。一次又一次的減肥給身體造成的傷害遠比好處要多，與其這樣還不如集中精力保證自己體重不要繼續增長了。 多倫多約克大學的研究人員對6,000名肥胖男女進行平均長達16年的跟蹤調查，最后給出了上述建議。 這6,000名肥胖人員做了醫學測試和體能測試。研究人員將他們的測試結果和正常體重人群的測試結果做了比較。根據《應用生理學、營養學及新陳代謝》雜志公布的結果，身材苗條并不總是占優勢。 那些超重的人可能比身材苗條但通過吸煙來壓制食欲的人鍛煉更多，吃得也更好，因此他們也更健康。同樣，壓力過大，久坐不動的人即使體重正常也可能比一個身材豐滿但參加鍛煉且能夠將壓力控制在自己承受范圍內的人身體更差。 加拿大研究人員稱，醫生判斷一個人是否該減肥應視其整體健康狀況而定，而不僅僅是參考體重指數（簡稱BMI）——一個將體重和身高進行對比的標準。 之前的一項研究表明，略為超重的退休老人比正常體重的退休老人更為長壽。 澳大利亞研究人員表示，身體多一些脂肪可能會儲存一些能量，使人從疾病中恢復過來。也有可能是因為超重的人更擔心自己的健康，一旦出現問題，他們會更早地發現和解決。 （來源：英語學習雜志） |
|
Vocabulary: tummy 肚子 undergo 經歷、經受 pensioner 領取養老金的人 |
