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Fast food meals and TV time shouldn't take all the blame for the U.S. obesity problem, according to a research review published Tuesday. In fact, a group of researchers contend, a number of aspects of modern living -- from lack of sleep to exposure to living with air conditioning -- may be feeding Americans' weight woes. Writing in the International Journal of Obesity, they argue that obesity research and prevention efforts need to look beyond the "Big Two" -- food industry practices, like beefed-up portion sizes and added sugar; and reduced physical activity from factors such as cuts in school gym classes. That's not to say that diet and exercise aren't important. However, the evidence linking obesity to food industry marketing and lack of gym class is circumstantial. Lack of sleep is one, they say. Research in animals and humans suggests that chronic sleep deprivation boosts appetite and eating, and studies also show that U.S. adults and children are sleeping less than they used to. In recent decades, adults have gone from sleeping for an average of 9 hours to about 7 hours, the researchers point out. Another factor potentially weighing Americans down is air conditioning. The body burns calories when forced to regulate its own temperature, and people tend to eat less in hot, humid weather. The report cites 10 potential obesity risk factors in all, including: increased rates of older mothers, whose children may be more prone to excess weight gain; a range of medications, such as antidepressants, which can promote weight gain; and a decrease in smoking rates, because people often gain weight when they quit and the absence of nicotine, an appetite suppressant. No one is suggesting that people should stop taking their prescriptions, keep smoking or swelter in the July sun, according to the researcher Allison. When it comes to any one person's weight, he said, "what ultimately matters is calorie intake and calorie expenditure." |
本周二公布的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示：美國(guó)人不能把肥胖問(wèn)題完全歸咎于快餐飲食和長(zhǎng)時(shí)間看電視。 一個(gè)研究小組認(rèn)為，事實(shí)上，現(xiàn)代生活中有很多因素都有可能導(dǎo)致美國(guó)人不幸超重，比如睡眠不足和使用空調(diào)。 刊登于《國(guó)際肥胖期刊》的一份研究報(bào)告稱，肥胖癥研究和預(yù)防不能局限于“兩大因素”——餐飲業(yè)的某些做法，如加大食物的分量或含糖量；運(yùn)動(dòng)量減少，如學(xué)校取消體育課。 這并不是說(shuō)飲食和運(yùn)動(dòng)不重要，無(wú)論怎樣，肥胖是否直接跟飲食業(yè)的市場(chǎng)策略和缺少體育課有關(guān)系得視情況而言。 研究人員指出：睡眠不足也是誘發(fā)肥胖的一大因素。通過(guò)對(duì)動(dòng)物和人體的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，長(zhǎng)期缺乏睡眠會(huì)刺激食欲。研究同時(shí)顯示，美國(guó)成年人和兒童目前的睡眠時(shí)間比過(guò)去少。近幾十年，成年人每天平均睡眠時(shí)間由過(guò)去的9小時(shí)降至7小時(shí)。 另一個(gè)誘發(fā)美國(guó)人肥胖焦慮的潛在因素是空調(diào)。當(dāng)體溫自動(dòng)進(jìn)行調(diào)節(jié)時(shí)，身體會(huì)消耗熱量，同時(shí)，濕熱的天氣會(huì)讓人們減少食量。 研究報(bào)告列舉了誘發(fā)肥胖的十大因素：大齡媽媽比例增加，她們的后代可能更容易超重；一些藥物會(huì)導(dǎo)致體重超標(biāo)，如抗抑郁病藥；煙民比例減少——尼古丁有抑制食欲的作用，所以吸煙者一旦戒煙會(huì)導(dǎo)致體重增加。 據(jù)研究人員艾利森介紹，這項(xiàng)研究并不是建議人們停止使用藥方、繼續(xù)吸煙或忍受炎暑的折磨。當(dāng)談到個(gè)人的體重問(wèn)題時(shí)，艾利森說(shuō)，“最重要的還是看你攝取和消耗了多少熱量。” |
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| Vocabulary: |
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chronic: of long duration; continuing（長(zhǎng)期的；持續(xù)的） |
