More Obese People Than Underweight

A new report says there are now more obese people in the world than there are underweight people.

一份新的报告说，现在世界上肥胖的人比体重不足的人多。

Researchers from Imperial College London wrote the report. Their findings were published in the British medical journalThe Lancet.

伦敦帝国理工学院的研究人员撰写了这份报告。他们的发现发表在英国医学杂志《柳叶刀》上。

The researchers examined health records from about 20 million people for what they called the "world's biggest obesity study."

研究人员检查了2000万人的健康记录，他们称之为“世界上最大的肥胖研究”。

Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight.

肥胖是一种身体储存大量不健康脂肪的情况。肥胖者被认为超重。

For the study, the researchers compared the body measurements of almost 20 million adults. They found that from 1975 to 2014, global obesity rates for men increased from 3.2 percent of the population to 10.8 percent. For women, it rose from 6.4 percent to 14.9 percent.

在这项研究中，研究人员比较了近2000万成年人的身体测量结果。他们发现，从1975年到2014年，全球男性肥胖率从人口的3.2%上升到10.8%。对于女性来说，这一比例从6.4%上升到14.9%。

They estimate that in 2014 there were 266 million obese men and 375 million obese women worldwide. That represents about 9 percent of the more than 7 billion people alive today.

他们估计，2014年全世界有2.66亿肥胖男性和3.75亿肥胖女性。这约占当今70多亿人口的9%。

The study found that more than 2.3 percent of men and 5 percent of women are considered severely obese. A severely obese individual has a body mass index (or BMI) of over 35 kilograms per square meter. BMI is a way to measure a person's height compared to their weight.

研究发现，超过2.3%的男性和5%的女性被认为是严重肥胖。一个严重肥胖的人的体重指数（或体重指数）超过35公斤每平方米。体重指数是衡量一个人身高和体重的一种方法。

The study also found that about 1 percent of men and 2 percent of women are considered "morbidly obese." Such people have difficulty with simple activities because they are overweight. The researchers say there are now 55 million morbidly obese adults worldwide.

研究还发现，大约1%的男性和2%的女性被认为是“病态肥胖”。这些人很难进行简单的活动，因为他们超重。研究人员说现在全世界有5500万病态肥胖的成年人。

Majid Ezzati is the chief writer of the report. He works at the Imperial College School of Public Health.

Majid Ezzati是该报告的主要作者。他在帝国大学公共卫生学院工作。

He writes that "the number of people across the globe whose weight poses a serious threat to their health is greater than ever before. He adds that this epidemic of severe obesity is too extensive to be tackled with just medications.

他写道：“全球范围内，体重对健康构成严重威胁的人数比以往任何时候都要多。他补充说，严重肥胖的流行范围太广，仅仅用药物是无法解决的。

He says coordinated global initiatives are needed to tackle this crisis. These initiatives include looking at the "price of healthy food compared to unhealthy food, or taxing high sugar and highly-processed foods."

他说，应对这场危机需要协调的全球举措。这些举措包括考虑“与不健康食品相比，健康食品的价格，或对高糖和高加工食品征税”。

The researchers warn if the problem of obesity worsens, 18 percent of men and 21 percent of women will be obese by 2025.

研究人员警告说，如果肥胖问题恶化，到2025年，18%的男性和21%的女性将肥胖。

The study found that China has the most obese people of any country and the United States has the largest number of severely obese people.

研究发现，中国是世界上最肥胖的国家，美国是最严重肥胖的国家。

The researchers also studied the number of people who are said to be underweight in different countries. They said underweight levels have dropped from 14 percent to 9 percent among men, and from 15 percent to 10 percent among women.

研究人员还研究了据说在不同国家体重不足的人数。他们说，男性体重不足的比例从14%下降到9%，女性体重不足的比例从15%下降到10%。

About a fourth of the world's underweight people live in India and Bangladesh.

世界上大约四分之一的体重不足的人生活在印度和孟加拉国。

I'm Anna Matteo.