健康有奖励:你减肥 我买单

据英国专家统计和分析，英国目前每年有9000人死于与肥胖有直接关系得疾病。仅11岁到12岁之间的孩子中，就有三分之一体重超标。预计到2050年全国将有60%的人口进入肥胖者行列。肥胖已成为英国面临的最大人口素质挑战。英国政府为此拟启动相应的奖励措施，激励那些积极减肥、戒烟和改善各种不良生活方式的人们。

Obesity, smoking, poor eating habits--they are common health problems in Britain.

In order to improve the situation, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE, suggests that offering incentives to people to quit smoking or eat healthier food can lead to positive changes.

Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of NICE, conceded paying people to quit smoking is a divisive issue. But he says it's important to consider alternative policies.

"The public owns the health care system. How do they feel about doing things this way with their money? And so we asked our citizens council and 60 per cent thought under very strict circumstances it was perhaps OK, 40 per cent didn't and now we're going out for public consultation to find out what the public think. Because it's quite a tricky issue."

Professor Julian Le Grand of the London School of Economics says that evidence shows that such incentives work, at least in the short term.

"On the whole they actually changed behavior, certainly in the short term and for things like taking medicines or vaccinations or so on. Not quite so sure about the longer term but there is some evidence there that they seem to work fairly effectively there too."

However, Fiona McEvoy of the Taxpayers' Alliance says it's a bad idea.

"I think it is a waste of money, we have got to prioritize at the moment. For their tax pounds people want medicine, they want equipment, they want front-line care and money should just not be used in this way."

Can these measures really change people's living habits in the long run? We'll see.