来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月14日
Almost one in three people in England are obese. Three decades ago, it was only about one in seven. Data from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales follows similar patterns. Expanding waistlines can shorten lives. Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK – behind smoking – and an important factor in heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Covid hits harder because obesity has become too common.
在英格兰，几乎有三分之一的人肥胖。30年前，这一比例仅为七分之一。北爱尔兰、苏格兰和威尔士的数据也遵循类似的模式。膨胀的腰围会缩短寿命。在英国，肥胖是导致癌症的第二大可预防原因，仅次于吸烟，也是导致心脏病和2型糖尿病的重要因素。由于肥胖已经变得太普遍，新冠肺炎造成的危害更严重。
Boris Johnson’s government promised action to tackle this worsening public health situation. The independent food strategy produced for ministers last year by the businessman Henry Dimbleby had a remit that went beyond the issues surrounding obesity, poverty and junk food. It included recommendations aimed at protecting nature as well as public health – particularly children’s health via the provision of many more free school meals. Mr Dimbleby’s report contained good ideas on how to address the excessive consumption of the highly processed, high-salt, high-sugar products that cause obesity. While the suggestion of a sugar and salt tax was rejected last year, a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm and limits on unhealthy promotions were agreed.
鲍里斯·约翰逊曾政府承诺采取行动应对日益恶化的公共健康状况。去年，商人亨利•丁布尔比为内阁部长们制定了一项独立的食品战略，其范围超越了肥胖、贫困和垃圾食品等问题。它包括旨在保护自然和公众健康的建议，特别是通过提供更多的免费学校餐来保护儿童健康。丁布尔比先生的报告就如何解决导致肥胖的高度加工、高盐、高糖产品的过度食用提出了好的想法。虽然糖盐税的建议在去年被否决，但禁止晚上9点前的垃圾食品广告和限制不健康的促销活动的建议得到了一致同意。
It is disappointing that these commitments have been dropped, along with nearly all the other constructive policy ideas suggested by Mr Dimbleby. Public health experts, and former Tory health ministers, said the backtracking would be bad for Britain. But it would have pleased rightwing Tory MPs who dislike state intervention.
令人失望的是，这些承诺以及丁布尔比先生提出的几乎所有其他建设性政策构想都被放弃了。公共卫生专家和前保守党卫生部长表示，这种倒退将对英国不利。但这会让不喜欢国家干预的右翼保守党议员感到高兴。
The government believes that healthy eating is a matter of individual responsibility. However, the epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot points out that this is to ignore the social dimension. “Why have obesity rates gone up? And why increased inequality in childhood obesity?” he asks. The relationship between excess weight and poverty may once have seemed counterintuitive, but is now widely recognised. People in poorer areas are likely to be more overweight than those in richer ones. Perhaps that is no surprise given that fast-food joints are more prevalent in deprived areas.
政府认为健康饮食是个人责任的问题。然而，流行病学家迈克尔·马莫特爵士指出，这种说法忽略了社会层面。“为什么肥胖率会上升？为什么在儿童肥胖问题上的不平等加剧了？”他问道。超重和贫困之间的关系曾经被认为是违反直觉的，但现在被广泛承认。生活在贫困地区的人比生活在富裕地区的人更容易超重。考虑到快餐店在贫困地区更为普遍，这也许并不奇怪。
Solving obesity means solving inequalities. Unfortunately, such disparities won’t be addressed until a new health bill surfaces. This is a missed opportunity that risks making the obesity crisis worse. Ministers may not want to hear that. But they should listen to the former Tory leader William Hague when he deprecates the “reluctance to protect people from their natural appetites being abused”. The questionable dominance of calorie-rich, cheap foods that make Britons more prone to disease needs challenging, especially when higher prices mean it will be costlier to eat well. Recent polling showed strong public support for restricting advertising and junk food promotions. No one believes that such steps are a panacea. Obesity is a complex problem. But amid the wider disappointment with the government’s empty food strategy, its capitulation to Big Food leaves a bitter taste.
解决肥胖问题意味着解决不平等问题。不幸的是，在新的医疗法案出台之前，这种不平等不会得到解决。这是一个错失的机会，其后果是有可能使肥胖危机恶化。部长们可能不想听到这些。但他们应该听听前保守党领袖威廉•黑格的话，他对“不愿防止人们的自然欲望不被滥用”的抨击。让英国人更容易患病的高热量廉价食品的主导地位值得质疑，尤其是当价格上涨意味着吃得好会更贵时。最近的民意调查显示，公众强烈支持限制垃圾食品的广告和促销。没有人相信这些措施是灵丹妙药。肥胖是一个复杂的问题。但在人们对政府空洞的食品战略普遍感到失望之际，它向大型食品公司的投降留下了苦涩的味道。