Children are getting so fat 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 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 36-38in and may be 42-44in by 2032. This compares with only 32.6in in 1972.

    Women's waists have grown from an average of 22in in 1920 to 24 ins in the Fifties and 30in 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-olds are also medically classified as obese.

    The obesity pandemic - an extensive epidemic - which started in the US, has now spread to Europe, Australasia, Central America and the Middle East.

    Many nations now record more than 20 per cent 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 as well as a diabetes.

    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 - and no. Yes, when the offspring become grossly obese. This is now becoming an alarmingly common occurrence in the US.

    "Such children and adolescents have a greatly reduced quality of life in terms of both their physical and psychosocial health."

    So say No to that doughnut and burger .

    現在的孩子們正變得越來越胖，以至于他們可能成為先他們父母而去的第一代。這是一位專家昨天所發表的觀點。

    由于過于肥胖，現在的孩子們已經變成了一些潛在病魔的獵物，糖尿病就是其中之一。

    倫敦衛生及熱帶醫學學院的安德魯·普倫蒂斯教授認為，脂肪含量過高的快餐飲食，加上電視和電腦使得孩子們養成了久坐不動的生活方式，極有可能大大縮短年輕一代的壽命。

    與此同時，人類的體形正在發生著革命性的變化，因為成人們正越長越胖。

    最新的研究表明，1972年，英國男性的平均腰圍僅為32.6英寸，目前是36-38英寸，到2032年，可能達到42-44英寸。

    女性的平均腰圍則從1920年的22英寸增加到50年代的24英寸，現在，則是30英寸。

    為什么現在的孩子們面臨著比我們更大的危險呢？原因之一就在于，他們發胖的年齡比我們早的多。

    僅僅在英國，就有100多萬16歲以下的兒童被歸為超重或者肥胖一族，比80年代中期多了一倍。每10個四歲的孩子中就有1個有醫學上的肥胖癥狀。

    這股源于美國的肥胖風正在蔓延開來，現在已經傳遍了歐洲，澳大利亞，美洲中部和中東。

    目前許多國家記錄在案的超重人口已經占到總人數的一半以上，其中達到醫學上所定義的肥胖的就有20%。

    普倫蒂斯教授說，導致我們體形變化的原因是，現代生活中高熱量食物隨處可見，隨手可得，而科技的發展使得人們每天消耗的熱量卻大大減少。

    并非只有普倫蒂斯教授關注這一問題。就在上周，某一醫學雜志還談到了肥胖對于癌癥的影響問題。

    肥胖還會增加中風、心臟疾病和糖尿病的發病率。

    一個中等肥胖者的壽命將被縮短大約9年，而一個嚴重肥胖者受到的影響更大。

    普倫蒂斯教授說，"是否真的象美國專家預測的那樣，孩子們的壽命會比他們的父母還短呢？"

    "答案既是"是"， 也是"不是"。說"是"是因為如果下一代繼續"瘋長"，就有可能比他們的父母壽命還短。說"不是"則因為這種現象已經引起了美國民眾的警惕。"

    "過度肥胖者，不管你是是成人還是青少年，你的生活質量都會大打折扣，無論在生理上還是心理上。"

    所以，就讓我們向油炸圈和夾肉餅說"不"吧。