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  3. Obesity, a Growing Problem in the US When it comes to food, America is not

Obesity, a Growing Problem in the US When it comes to food, America is not

游客2023-12-28  8
问题    Obesity, a Growing Problem in the US
   When it comes to food, America is not just the fattest country on earth but probably the most schizophrenic as well — home to the Big Mac1 and Weight Watchers, the super model and the couch potato.
   The love-hate relationship with food was examined in the aired documentary "Fat" , and if there is any comfort for the more than 90 million overweight Americans it’s that the rest of the world is also getting fatter.
   "There is an enormous pressure on people to be thin and to be physically fit but at the same time there is a tremendous pressure and inducement to eat," Dr. Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology at Yale University and a participant in the programme, said in an interview.
   "You’ll see a Baskin Robbins next to Weight Watchers. You’ll see a Family Circle magazine with a delicious chocolate on the cover beside a diet article," said Brownell. "At the same time as we have record levels of obesity, we have record levels of eating disorders too," he said.
   The desire to eat fatty food came from a primitive survival instinct to store enough energy in good times to ensure survival when food was scarce. But in a modern urban society, where fast food chains appear on almost every block, the instinct to eat fat has begun to work against us.
   The documentary claims that nowhere is the exposure to junk food more prevalent than in the United States, where the problem has been compounded by the increasingly sedentary modern lifestyle.
   It also says that members of Arizona’s Pima Indian tribe are the fattest people in the fattest country on earth. Until recently the tribe lived a simple life, but in 1984 when the tribe won a gaming license it joined the American mainstream. Today the tribe is plagued by obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
   Just 800 kms south in Mexico, another branch of the Pima tribe continues to live a traditional life and eats a traditional diet. These Pimas have none of the problems of their American counterparts, who are on average 27 kgs heavier.
   Part of the problem, according to Brownell, is the intense advertising of junk food in the United States. The average American child sees thousands of TV commercials each year, most of which advertise fast food, candy and soda.
   The food environment has become so "toxic" according to the documentary, that some US schools even offer fast food such as McDonald’s and Burger King in school cafeterias.
   But junk food is also proliferating overseas, resulting in increasing rates of obesity in such countries as China, where fast food restaurants have recently taken hold.
   Compounding the new-found availability of junk food is the changing opinion on what is the ideal body. These days thin is king. Many actors such as Calista Flockhart, the star of the TV show "Ally Mcbeal", and super models, such as Kate Moss, look anorexic when placed next to someone like Marilyn Monroe who was the world’s biggest sex symbol in the late 1950s.
   That unrealistic waif-like ideal has devastating effects on some. Among the more disturbing scenes in the documentary were interviews in an eating disorder clinic in England where many of the patients were skinny girls of 10 or less who felt fat.
   For many the lust to lose weight leads to a see-saw of dieting and bingeing that inevitably ends in tears.
   "People aspire to an unrealistic ideal and they have to restrict their food intake to an enormous extent to reach that ideal and they just can’t maintain it so they give up," Brownell said.
   While obesity is normally associated with being unfit, like everything, there are exceptions. Triathlete Dave Alexander swims 8 kms, run 48 kms and cycles 320 kms each week. At 1. 7 meters and weighing 113. 4 kgs, Alexander is morbidly obese but nevertheless fit.
   But Brownell warns viewers not to give too much weight to Alexander’s case, "The fact is most overweight people are not fit. "
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答案    过度肥胖成为美国日益严重的问题
   谈及饮食，美国不仅是世界上最肥胖的国家，也可能是对食物持最自相矛盾态度的国家——这里，既有援贫济困的大麦克公司，又有每日心挂体重的减肥者，既有超级名模，又有终日泡在电视机前不思运动的人。
   专题片《肥胖》调查了人们对食物爱恨参杂之情。如果对于九千多万美国肥胖者来说有什么值得欣慰的，那便是，世界上其他国家的人也越来越胖。
   “对于人们来说想要瘦身并保持身体健康可是一个不小的压力，并且，人们在吃饭时既承受极度压力，又忍不住巨大诱惑，”耶鲁大学的心理学教授凯利-布朗内尔在专题节目中接受采访时说道。
   “你能看到在减肥者身边有美国贝罗公司生产的31种风味冰淇淋，你也可以看到《家庭圈》杂志封面上精美的巧克力蛋糕和瘦身食品印在一起，”布朗内尔说。“同时，我们有创纪录的过度肥胖，也有创纪录的过度节食，”他说。
   多吃含脂肪食物的欲望来源于原始人类的求生本能——在食物充沛的时候储存充足能量以备食物不足时渡过难关。但是在现代都市社会里，快餐连锁店遍布每一条大街，喜欢吃含脂肪食物的本能对我们不利起来。
   《肥胖》专题片认为，世界上没有哪个国家像美国那样垃圾食品随处可见、风靡时兴，而且让这一态势更糟糕的是，伏案工作的现代生活方式越来越盛。
   专题片中也提到，亚利桑那州皮马部落的印第安人是当今最肥胖的国度里最肥胖的人。直到最近，皮马人都过着简单的生活，不过当1984年他们获得了博彩业特许证，便加入了主流的美国生活。如今该部落深为过度肥胖、糖尿病、高血压和心脏病所困扰。
   在墨西哥以南不过800公里居住着另外一支皮马部落，他们仍然过着传统的生活，保持传统的食物结构，与平均体重超过他们27公斤的美国皮马人相比，他们没有得上面提到的任何一种疾病。
   在布朗内尔看来，部分症结在于美国广告大肆宣传垃圾食品。美国孩子平均每年要看几千个电视广告，其中大部分是快餐、糖果和汽水。
   根据《肥胖》专题片的调查，美国食物的环境已经变得非常“有害”，有些学校甚至在食堂里供应麦当劳和汉堡王之类的快餐。
   但是垃圾食品在海外也迅速风靡起来，结果是在诸如中国之类的国家里过度肥胖者增加。近几年来这些国家的快餐店已经风行起来。
   人们新近发现，垃圾食品随处可见；然而使得这一境况更为复杂的，是人们对理想身材的看法又改变了。现在人们认为瘦就是好。很多演艺明星，如电视剧《阿莉-麦克比尔》中的主角卡利斯特-弗洛卡特，以及包括凯特-莫斯在内的许多超级名模，如果放在20世纪50年代末期最了不起的性感象征女郎玛丽莲-梦露身旁，一个个都像得了厌食症。
   这种迷茫、不现实的理想已经摧毁了一些人。在《肥胖》专题片中更让人不安的镜头是，在采访英国一家过度节食病诊所时，很多病人竟是10岁或更小的、骨瘦如柴的女孩子，她们竟觉得自己很胖!
   对很多人来说，强烈的瘦身愿望往往会导致一个跷跷板的结局。他们一会儿节食，一会儿又暴食，其结局注定是悲剧性的。
   “人们总是怀着不切实际的理想，而且他们不得不大量控制饮食以实现自己的目标。然而，他们终究是难以坚持，最后只好放弃，”布朗内尔说。
   虽然过度肥胖总是与不健康联系在一起，但它也如别的事情一样，总有例外。三项全能运动员戴夫-亚历山大每星期要游泳8公里，跑48公里，骑车320公里。他身高1．7米，体重113．4公斤，虽然是病态的肥胖，然而他却非常健康。
   但是布朗内尔告诫电视观众，不要过分看重亚历山大这一特例。“事实是，大部分超重的人总是不健康的。”
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