美国国家公共电台 NPR Carrying Some Extra Pounds May Not Be Good After All

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The dangers of obesity¹ are well known. The dangers of carrying a little extra weight, though, are the subject of more debate. NPR's Patti Neighmond reports that a new study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine says being slightly overweight could actually shorten lifespan.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE²: Nobody's arguing about the dangers of obesity, which increases risk for diabetes³, heart disease, certain cancers and even premature⁴ death. The debate here is about people who are overweight, but not obese⁵. And that's a lot of people, says Dr. Steven Heymsfield, an obesity researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton⁶ Rouge⁷.

STEVEN HEYMSFIELD: People who are overweight generally know it. Their belt's a little tight. Their clothes don't fit as well as they used to. And I think most people who fall within that range have a pretty good sense that they're a few pounds overweight, but they're not quite obese.

NEIGHMOND: A body mass index, or BMI, over 25 is considered overweight. About one-third of Americans are overweight. Another 40 percent are considered obese. In the study, researchers looked at information gathered on more than 225,000 adults over 50. They wanted to know if being overweight affected⁸ lifespan. Demographer⁹ Andrew Stokes at Boston University School of Public Health headed the study, which found, yes, it did. There was a 6 percent increased risk of death among individuals who were overweight.

ANDREW STOKES: For this group, we found consistently across the board for all the causes of death examined that having a history of overweight over the 16-year period was associated with increased risk of death.

NEIGHMOND: Six percent is only a modest increase, he says, but it's worrisome because so many Americans are overweight. Now, the findings are also provocative¹⁰ because they seem to contradict earlier research published four years ago by Stanford University epidemiologist Katherine Flegal. At the time of her study, she was with the CDC.

KATHERINE FLEGAL: In our meta-analysis, we had 97 studies. And the combined effect of all those studies was to show a slight decrease in mortality in the overweight category relative to the normal weight category.

NEIGHMOND: So being overweight seemed to be protective. It's not clear why. Some doctors speculate it could be a little extra fat protects people if they fall or offers an energy reserve during illness. Researcher Stokes says his findings of increased risk of death among overweight people are more reliable because they examined weight over 16 years. And he says that makes the take-home message pretty clear.

STOKES: Individuals should try as hard as possible to maintain a weight in the normal range for as large a portion of their adult life as possible.

NEIGHMOND: Stokes says future research should look at whether an overweight person who diets, exercises and loses weight can turn back their risk of disease to that of an individual who never gained weight in the first place. In the midst of conflicting findings, researchers Steven Heymsfield says people who are overweight should check with their doctor to see if they have other weight-related health problems.

HEYMSFIELD: For example, is your blood sugar high? Is your blood pressure high? Is your cholesterol¹¹ too high? If so, then you should consider treatment for those risk factors...

NEIGHMOND: ...Which all have effective treatments. At the same time, Heymsfield says, people should work hard to prevent future weight gain and, if so motivated, lose weight and try to bring their BMI down to a healthier level. Patty Neighmond, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF IKEBE SHAKEDOWN SONG, "BY HOOK OR BY CROOK")

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

5 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

6 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

7 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 demographer   

n.人口统计学家

参考例句：

• Professor Antonio Golini is a demographer at the University of Rome. 罗马大学安东尼奥教授是位人口统计学家。 来自互联网
• Demographer William Frey says immigrants with young families will help keep the United States competitive. 人口统计学家佛瑞表示这些年轻的家庭会帮助美国保持竞争力。 来自互联网

10 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

11 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。