平均寿命世界上等 但中国人能战胜肥胖吗

The ways in which obesity makes an individual more prone to cancer are far from well understood. Finding those ways may lead to more successful treatment of cancer, and it’s important and continuing work. But identifying what kind of policy might work to reduce obesity — regulations, taxes, subsidies for nonfattening foods, education about better diets and so on — is, or should be, the primary work of public-health officials, activists and forward-thinking politicians.
肥胖为什么会让一个人更容易患上癌症，这种机制我们还远没能充分理解。研究这些机制，可能会带来更好的癌症疗法，这个工作很重要，而且也在持续进行中。但是，弄清楚什么样的政策可以减少肥胖——法规、税收、为健康食品提供补贴、增进人们对饮食的了解等等——是（或者说应该是）公共健康官员、活动人士和具有前瞻性思维的政治人士的首要工作。

With a staggering 70 percent of our adult population overweight or obese, the United States was until recently the world’s leader in this unenviable race. Recently, Mexico (71.3 percent), took our place. (In China, the combined obesity-overweight rate is hovering at under 30 percent, still frightening.) Yet Mexico, which many Americans and Europeans haughtily consider primitive, was the first major nation in the world to institute significant soda and junk food taxes. That law went into effect early this year, and the results are already positive: Sales of soda are slipping.
美国成人的超重率或肥胖率高达70%，直到最近，美国在这个不讨喜的世界排名中一直位居第一。近来，墨西哥（比率为71.3%）夺取了冠军。（在中国，综合肥胖超重率徘徊在30%左右，也很可怕。）虽然很多美国人和欧洲人傲慢地认为墨西哥是个落后国家，但它却是全球第一个对汽水和垃圾食品课以重税的大国。该法规于今年年初生效，现在已经显示了积极成果：汽水销量正在下滑。

In the 21st century, it is inevitable that nearly every citizen of the world has been and will continue to be affected by the scourge of junk food and liquid candy. Even though intelligent proposals abound, few countries have attempted to curb their marketing or sales. Without limits, the consumption of unhealthy foods will result in higher rates of obesity, and therefore an increase in associated diseases and premature deaths.
在21世纪，全球几乎每一个公民都已经并将继续受到垃圾食物和含糖饮料的影响，这是不可避免的。尽管明智的提议比比皆是，试图遏制市场营销或销售活动的国家却寥寥无几。如果没有限制，那么消耗不健康食品就会导致肥胖率升高，从而导致与之相关的患病率和早逝率升高。

If we know how to diminish needless human suffering and mortality, why would we not? As Mexico has shown, it’s the responsibility of government to protect its population from hyper-processed food.
如果我们知道该如何减少不必要的人类痛苦和死亡，那为什么不行动起来呢？墨西哥的状况已经表明，政府责无旁贷，理应保护公众免遭过度加工食品的侵害。

China has the potential to apply the lessons learned not only from its own positive experience dealing with communicable disease, but from the tragic mistakes made by so-called developed nations. It has a chance to turn the tide against disease-causing diets before it’s too late. Sadly, we may need its example to wake up to our own problems.
中国不仅可以运用自身控制传染病的积极经验，还可以借鉴所谓的发达国家在这个悲惨失误上的教训。现在为时还不晚，中国仍有机会力挽狂澜，和饮食引起的疾病做斗争。可悲的是，我们可能需要中国做出的表率，才能对自己的问题有所醒悟。