来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2021年3月4日
About 2.2 million of the 2.5 million deaths from Covid have been in countries with high proportions of overweight people, according to a report by the World Obesity Federation. The issue is not just obesity but body mass indexes that are now regarded as normal across the West.
根据世界肥胖联合会的一份报告，在250万人死于新冠肺炎的病例中，约有220万人来自超重人口比例较高的国家。问题不仅在于肥胖，还在于超高的身体质量指数(bmi)在西方国家被视为正常。
The biggest factor in Covid mortality remains age, but where more than 50 per cent of the population is overweight, death rates are 10 times higher. Vietnam, with the lowest level of overweight people in its population, also enjoys the second lowest coronavirus death rate in the world.
造成新冠肺炎患者死亡的最大因素仍然是年龄，但在50%以上的人口超重的地方，新冠死亡率比平均高出10倍。越南是全球超重人口比例最低的国家，也是全球冠状患者死亡率第二低的国家。
There needs to be an honest audit of why some parts of the world have fared better than others. Experience is one answer – some East Asian countries had learned the lessons of Sars – as are policy choices and administrative competence. But a society as unhealthy as ours undeniably pays a price: in modern Britain, one-in-three patients admitted to a hospital as an emergency have five or more health problems (including obesity or diabetes).
我们需要对世界上某些地区比其他地区表现得更好的原因进行诚实的审查。经验是其中一个原因——一些东亚国家已经从非典中吸取了教训——政策选择和管理能力也是如此。但不可否认，一个像我们这样不健康的社会是要付出代价的：在现代英国，三分之一的急诊病人都有五种或五种以上的健康问题(包括肥胖或糖尿病)。
The experience of Covid should not be manipulated to apply guilt. But there is a place for a mature conversation about mortality and its relationship to personal choice.
不应利用新冠疫情的经历来制造罪恶感。但是，关于死亡及其与个人选择的关系，有一个成熟的对话空间。
As we regain control of our lives after lockdown ends, it makes sense to promote self-governance and freedom, by explaining how risk works and extolling the benefits of exercise and good diet.
在封城结束后，我们重新掌握了自己的生活，通过解释风险是如何起作用的，并颂扬锻炼和良好饮食的好处，促进自我管理和自由是有意义的。
The cultural normalisation of obesity certainly has to end. The situation will only get worse if we pretend poor choices have no consequences.
肥胖正常化的文化必然要结束了。如果我们假装错误的选择不会产生任何后果，情况只会变得更糟。