As a scourge of the modern society, obesity has become the world’s biggest public-health issue today--the main cause of heart disease, which kills more people these days than AIDS, malaria, war. Since the World Health Organization labeled obesity an "epidemic" in 2000, reports on its fearful consequences have come thick and Fast.

　　Will public-health warnings, combined with media pressure, persuade people to get thinner, just as they finally put them off tobacco? Possibly. In the rich world, sales of healthier foods are booming and new figures suggest that over the past year Americans got very slightly thinner for the first time in recorded history. But even if Americans are losing a few ounces, it will be many years before the country solves the health problems caused by half a century’s dining to excess. And, everywhere else in the world, people are still piling on the pounds. That’s why there is now a consensus among doctors that governments should do something to stop them.

　　Answer:

　　作为现代社会的一个祸害，肥胖已成为当今世界最大的公共健康问题。肥胖是引起心脏病的主要原因，现今因心脏病致死的人数已超过死于艾滋病、疟疾、战争的人数。自从世界卫生组织于 2000 年将肥胖症定为“流行病”以来，已经连篇累牍地发表了有关肥胖症引起可怕后果的报告。

　　对肥胖症发出的公共卫生警示，加上传媒宣传所形成的压力，是否会像最终促使烟民们戒烟那样，说服人们去减肥呢?这有可能。在富裕国家，健康食品的销量正在大幅上升，而且新的数据表明，在过去的一年美国人的体重有史以来首次略有下降。

　　但是即使美国人是瘦了一点，美国要解决因半个世纪以来饮食过度而造成的健康问题，还需要许多年时间。况且，在世界各地，人们的体重仍在增加。这就是为什么现在医生们一致认为各国政府应采取措施来制止人们发胖。

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