1. They’re doing something right out West. Sixty-six percent of Americans are overweight or obese, with the national obesity rate doubling between 1976 and 1999. But as of 2007, California was the only state not getting any fatter.

肥胖问题正在西方国家肆虐横行。65%美国人超重或肥胖，从1976年到1999年，全国肥胖率翻了一倍。2007年，全美只有加利福尼亚州人口没有增胖。

2. The root of the problem? Depending on gender and how active they are, adults should eat 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. U.S. agriculture now produces 3,900 calories of food per inhabitant per day.

症结何在？肥胖程度因性别及个性而不同。成人每天需消耗2000-3000卡路里能量。而当下美国农业的产出为每天人均3900卡路里。

3. People who regularly eat dinner or breakfast in restaurants double their risk of becoming obese.

常在餐馆解决早晚餐的人，发胖率是正常人两倍。

4. Being overweight reduces a woman’s chances of getting pregnant.

肥胖会降低女性怀孕率。

5. The National Institutes of Health believes obesity is one of the reasons why the fastest-growing group of women experiencing infertility are those under 25.

国家卫生院表示，肥胖是引起越来越多25岁以下女性不孕不育的症候之一。

6. We’re trying. Each year nearly $50 billion is spent on diet programs.

人们一直为解决肥胖问题而努力。每年，约有500亿美元投资于减肥项目。

7. People who lose just 10 percent of their weight reportsignificantimprovement in their sex lives.

成功减轻10%体重的人表示，他们的性生活也大有提高。

8. Biology is trying to help too. Leptin is a hunger-slaking hormone pumped into the bloodstream by fat cells. The more fat you have, the more leptin you make and the less hungry you feel.

生物界也一直在努力。“瘦素”是一种能延缓饥饿感的基因，可通过脂肪细胞注入人体血液。脂肪越多，容纳的瘦素就越多，饥饿感也就越少。

9. Want to get your hands on some leptin? The hormone never panned out as a diet aid because most overweight people have become insensitive to it.

你是不是也想注入瘦素呢？可惜瘦素还不及节食援助奏效，因为大部分肥胖的人早已对瘦素麻木了。

10. Over the course of a year, about 10 percent of an adult’s fat cells die. Alas, the bodypromptly replaces them.

每年，成人体内约有10%的脂肪细胞会消亡。可惜，新陈代谢很快又能跟上来。

11. The total number of fat cells in your body remains constant once you reach adulthood. Even after radical weight-lossprocedures such as stomach stapling, fat cells return to their presurgery numbers within two years.

一旦成人，体内的脂肪细胞便会持续累积。哪怕你采取肠胃吻合术这样剧烈的减肥措施，两年后，脂肪也会恢复到手术前的数量。

12. Try the vacuum instead. Liposuction is the only way to actually reduce the number of fat cells in your spare tire. Diet and exercise just shrink them.

抽脂倒可以尝试。吸脂术是唯一能够抽掉腰间脂肪的方法，节食和运动只能让脂肪萎缩而已。

13. New Zealander Pete Bethune gave a whole new meaning to biofuel when he used his liposuctioned fat to power the world’s fastest eco-boat. A way to solve the obesity epidemic and the fuel crisis?

新西兰人彼得·白求恩缔造了“生物燃料”这个全新概念：他用抽出来的脂肪发动了全球最快的生态小艇。可否视其为解决肥胖问题和燃料危机的妙方呢？

14. It may make you prettier, but not healthier. Liposuction doesn’t remove fat from around the internal organs, so your fat-related health risks are unchanged.

抽脂可以让你看上去更漂亮，但未必更健康。它吸不掉体内器官周围的脂肪，所以，肥胖引起的健康隐患依然存在。

15. Blame Mom and Dad. Obesity is more heritable than schizophrenia, high blood pressure, and alcoholism.

要怪就怪你父母吧。肥胖的遗传性比精神分裂症、高血压和酗酒的遗传率还高。

16. Cutting saturated fat intake to therecommended 10 percent of your calories will prolong your life, but only by a few months at most, researchers found.

研究发现，将饱和脂肪减少10%卡路里，最多可延长数月寿命。

17. The brain is about 70 percent fat.

大脑约含70%脂肪。

18. Bottlenose dolphins use fatty tissuein the head, concentrated in an organ called the melon, to focus sound waves, giving them their sonar ability.

胆鼻海豚头部有块叫“鲸脂”的脂肪组织，可用来聚焦声波，使其具备声纳感应能力。

19. Think you have a spare tire? Whales are wrapped in fat—a thick layer of blubber—as vital insulation against the cold. Some whales have a blubber layer up to 20 inches thick.

是不是想到了你腰部的赘肉？鲸鱼全身裹满鲸脂以便御寒。有些鲸鱼的鲸脂厚达20英寸。

20. Camels have the opposite problem: Living in hot climates, they want as little heat-trapping insulation as possible, so they concentrate their fat in their humps.

但骆驼却恰恰相反：沙漠气候下，保暖的脂肪越少越好。所以，骆驼的脂肪全都集中在了驼峰上。