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Researchers of the study, 'Correlates of Overweight Status in Chinese Youth: an East-West Paradox,' zoned in on China's adolescent population, looking at the relationship between such factors as sleep, diet, exercise and income on obesity among young people.
What they found: Chinese children raised in families with higher incomes and advanced education levels are more likely to become obese.
Findings of the study contrast distinctly with the obese populations of the U.S. and even Europe, where children and adults have waistline sizes that correlate to the degree of their poverty. Overweight American youth tend to be from neighborhoods where fresh produce is less available, from families with lower educational backgrounds and less knowledge of general nutrition.
Chinese boys are also more likely than girls to become overweight, according to the study, whereas in the U.S., boys and girls are equally likely to develop weight problems.
Further differentiating the two cultures of obesity, researchers found that younger children, children who reported having high levels of physical activity, and youth who reported eating lots of vegetables and little fast food or sweets were actually more likely to be obese than the rest of the youth population.
How is it possible that these young vegetable-eaters are getting fat? One explanation, according to the study, is China's rapidly expanding economy. With disposable incomes growing, families can now afford to eat a lot more food and buy certain foods that just years ago were less available and less affordable. So while these children may be eating their veggies, they're packing in an excess of other fatty foods to go with them.
Meat consumption has been on the rise, contributing to obesity, according to a separate 2008 University of North Carolina study on China's changing nutrition habits (pdf). By 2005, meat comprised 27% of the Chinese diet, up from 6% in 1965, according to the most recent figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Many Chinese families have also made unhealthy lifestyle changes, such as opting for more deep-fried, stir-fried and junk food, the study said.
Conducted by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, the study surveyed 9,000-plus middle school and high school students from families across income brackets in seven densely populated cities in China.
Excessively plump figures have become increasingly prevalent in China, with around 25% of the country's adult population qualifying as either overweight or obese, according to the University of North Carolina study. Two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.
In clinical terms, overweight people are those with a body mass index of 25 to 29.9, while anyone with a BMI over 30 is defined as obese.
China's Ministry of Health does not track obesity levels in China.
Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. China is now home to the world's largest diabetic population, with 23 million diagnosed, up 40% from 2001, according to London-based research group GfK HealthCare. The U.S. is home to 20 million diabetics.
參考譯文：
該研究名為《中國青少年超重狀況的相關因素：東西方矛盾》（Correlates of Overweight Status in Chinese Youth: an East-West Paradox）。研究人員將對象鎖定在中國的青少年人口，研究了睡眠、飲食、鍛煉和收入等因素與年輕人肥胖的關系。
他們發現：高收入和教育水平高的家庭養育的中國孩子更有可能肥胖。
研究結果與美國甚至歐洲的肥胖人口形成鮮明對比，美國和歐洲兒童和成人的腰圍尺寸與他們的貧窮程度相關。超重的美國青少年往往來自較難獲得新鮮農產品的社區、教育程度較低和普通營養學知識較少的家庭。
據這項研究顯示，在中國，男孩肥胖的可能性比女孩大，而在美國，男孩女孩形成體重問題的可能性相當。
進一步區別兩種肥胖文化的是，研究人員發現，年齡較小的兒童、體力活動較多的兒童以及食用大量蔬菜、較少快餐或甜食的兒童，事實上比其他青少年更有可能肥胖。
素食兒童怎么會變胖？這項研究給出的一個解釋是由于中國快速擴張的經濟。隨著可支配收入增加，各個家庭現在能夠吃得起更多食物，并購買幾年前比較少見、買不起的一些食物。因此盡管這些兒童可能在吃蔬菜，但同時也攝入了其他過量的高脂肪食物。
據北卡羅來納大學（University of North Carolina）2008年對中國營養習慣改變所作的研究顯示，肉類消耗量一直在增加，這是肥胖的一個原因。據聯合國糧食和農業組織（Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations）最新數據顯示，2005年，肉類在中國人飲食中的比重為27%，較1965年的6%大幅上升。
該研究說，許多中國家庭還做出了不健康的生活方式改變，比如更多的選擇油炸的、煎炒的和垃圾食品。
該研究是由南加州大學（University of Southern California）凱克醫學院（Keck School of Medicine）研究員進行的，調查對象是9,000多名初高中學生，他們來自中國七個人口密集的城市中收入水平各異的家庭。
根據北卡羅來納大學的這項研究，過度肥胖的身材在中國已經越來越普遍，中國約25%的成年人不是超重就是肥胖。在美國這個比例為三分之二。
在臨床學中，身體質量指數為25到29.9就是超重，而身體質量指數超過30的就是肥胖。
中國衛生部并未追蹤中國的肥胖程度狀況。
肥胖是心臟病和2型糖尿病的主要風險因素。據倫敦研究機構GfK HealthCare稱，中國目前是世界糖尿病人口最多的國家，2,300萬人被確診為患有糖尿病，比2001年多出40%。美國有2,000萬糖尿病人口。
