第2448期:Severe Obesity Increases in US(1)

Body weight continues to be a big public health issue in the United States. New government research suggests that the condition of having far too much fat stored in the body – severe obesity – has increased greatly over the past ten years. 

体重仍然是美国的一个重大公共卫生问题。新的政府研究表明，体内储存过多脂肪的情况——严重肥胖——在过去十年中大大增加。 

The U.S. obesity rate is about 40 percent, says a 2021-2023 study of about 6,000 people. Almost one in 10 of those questioned reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. Women were nearly two times as likely as men to report severe obesity. 

一项 2021 年至 2023 年对约 6,000 人进行的研究表明，美国的肥胖率约为 40%。美国疾病控制与预防中心 (CDC) 发现，近十分之一的受访者患有严重肥胖症。女性报告严重肥胖的可能性几乎是男性的两倍。 

The overall obesity rate appeared to decrease in comparison to the 2017-2020 survey. But the change was not considered statistically meaningful. In other words, the numbers are small enough that there is a mathematical chance the rates did not truly drop. 

与 2017-2020 年的调查相比，总体肥胖率似乎有所下降。但这一变化不被认为具有统计意义。换句话说，这个数字足够小，从数学上来说，利率有可能没有真正下降。 

Dr. Samuel Emmerich is the CDC public health officer who led the latest study. He said it is too soon to know whether new treatments for obesity, including weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, can help ease the disease.

领导这项最新研究的疾病预防控制中心公共卫生官员塞缪尔·埃默里奇博士。他说，现在判断肥胖的新疗法（包括 Wegovy 和 Zepbound 等减肥药）是否有助于缓解这种疾病还为时过早。 

“We simply can’t see down to that detailed level to prescription medication use and compare that to changes in obesity prevalence,” Emmerich said. He added, “Hopefully that is something we can see in the future.” 

艾默里奇说：“我们根本无法详细了解处方药的使用情况，也无法将其与肥胖患病率的变化进行比较。” 他补充道：“希望我们将来能看到这一点。” 

The results show that the overall obesity rate in the U.S. has not changed much in ten years. The rate of severe obesity climbed from almost eight percent in the 2013-2014 study to almost 10 percent in the most recent one. 

结果显示，美国的总体肥胖率十年来没有太大变化。严重肥胖率从 2013 年至 2014 年研究中的近 8% 攀升至最近一项研究中的近 10%。 

Before that, obesity had increased quickly in the U.S. since the 1990s, federal studies showed. 

联邦研究显示，在此之前，自 20 世纪 90 年代以来，美国肥胖率迅速上升。

Measures of obesity and severe obesity are based on the body mass index (BMI), a computation involving height and weight. People with a BMI of 30 are considered obese. Those with a BMI of 40 or higher have severe obesity. 

肥胖和严重肥胖的衡量标准是基于体重指数（BMI），这是一种涉及身高和体重的计算方法。BMI 为 30 的人被视为肥胖。BMI 为 40 或更高的人患有严重肥胖。 

Solveig Cunningham is an Emory University global health professor who specializes in obesity. 

索尔维格·坎宁安 (Solveig Cunningham) 是埃默里大学全球健康教授，专门研究肥胖问题。