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 .

    现在的孩子们正变得越来越胖，以至于他们可能成为先他们父母而去的第一代。这是一位专家昨天所发表的观点。

    由于过于肥胖，现在的孩子们已经变成了一些潜在病魔的猎物，糖尿病就是其中之一。

    伦敦卫生及热带医学学院的安德鲁·普伦蒂斯教授认为，脂肪含量过高的快餐饮食，加上电视和电脑使得孩子们养成了久坐不动的生活方式，极有可能大大缩短年轻一代的寿命。

    与此同时，人类的体形正在发生着革命性的变化，因为成人们正越长越胖。

    最新的研究表明，1972年，英国男性的平均腰围仅为32.6英寸，目前是36-38英寸，到2032年，可能达到42-44英寸。

    女性的平均腰围则从1920年的22英寸增加到50年代的24英寸，现在，则是30英寸。

    为什么现在的孩子们面临着比我们更大的危险呢？原因之一就在于，他们发胖的年龄比我们早的多。

    仅仅在英国，就有100多万16岁以下的儿童被归为超重或者肥胖一族，比80年代中期多了一倍。每10个四岁的孩子中就有1个有医学上的肥胖症状。

    这股源于美国的肥胖风正在蔓延开来，现在已经传遍了欧洲，澳大利亚，美洲中部和中东。

    目前许多国家记录在案的超重人口已经占到总人数的一半以上，其中达到医学上所定义的肥胖的就有20%。

    普伦蒂斯教授说，导致我们体形变化的原因是，现代生活中高热量食物随处可见，随手可得，而科技的发展使得人们每天消耗的热量却大大减少。

    并非只有普伦蒂斯教授关注这一问题。就在上周，某一医学杂志还谈到了肥胖对于癌症的影响问题。

    肥胖还会增加中风、心脏疾病和糖尿病的发病率。

    一个中等肥胖者的寿命将被缩短大约9年，而一个严重肥胖者受到的影响更大。

    普伦蒂斯教授说，"是否真的象美国专家预测的那样，孩子们的寿命会比他们的父母还短呢？"

    "答案既是"是"， 也是"不是"。说"是"是因为如果下一代继续"疯长"，就有可能比他们的父母寿命还短。说"不是"则因为这种现象已经引起了美国民众的警惕。"

    "过度肥胖者，不管你是是成人还是青少年，你的生活质量都会大打折扣，无论在生理上还是心理上。"

    所以，就让我们向油炸圈和夹肉饼说"不"吧。