Children are getting so fat that they may be the first generation to die before their parents, an expert claimed yesterday.
Today’s youngsters are already falling prey to potential killers such as diabetes because of their weight. Fatty fast-food diets combined with sedentary lifestyles dominated by televisions and computers could mean kids will die tragically young, says Professor Andrew Prentice, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
At the same time, the shape of the human body is going through a huge evolutionary shift because adults are getting so fat. Here in Britain, latest research shows that the average waist size for a man is 36-38 inch and may be 42-44 inch by 2032. This compares with only 32.6 inch in 1972. Women’s waists have grown from an average of 22 inch 1920 to 24 inch in the fifties and 30 inch now. One of the major reasons why children now are at greater risk is that we are getting fatter younger. In the UK alone, more than one million under-16s are classed as overweight or obese — double the number in the mid-eighties. One in ten four-year-old are also medically classified as obese. The obesity pandemic -- an extensive epidemic ― which started in the US, has now spread to Europe, Australia, Central America and the Middle East.
Many nations now record more than 20 percent of their population as clinically obese and well over half the population as overweight. Prof Prentice said the change in our shape has been caused by a glut of easily available high-energy foods combined with a dramatic drop in the energy we use as a result of technology developments. He is not alone in his concern. Only last week one medical journal revealed how obesity was fuelling a rise in cancer cases. Obesity also increases the risk factor for strokes and heart disease. An averagely obese person’s lifespan is shortened by around nine years while a severely obese person by many more. Prof Prentice said: “So will parents outlive their children?” as claimed recently by an American obesity specialist. The answer is yes-or-no. Yes, when the offspring become grossly obese. This is now becoming an alarm-reduced quality of life in terms of both their physical and psychosocial health. So say NO to that doughnut(油炸圈饼)and burger.
1.What does the word “sedentary” (Para.2) mean?
2.It is known from the passage that（ ）.
3.According to Prof Prentice, what are the reasons for the change in our shape?
4.Obesity increases the risk factor of （ ）.
5.What does the author mean by “So say NO to that doughnut and burger” (Para. 4)?
