胖人都不健康嗎？

The idea that people can be fat but medically fit is a myth, sayexperts speaking in Portugal.

葡萄牙的一個會議上專家說，「健康胖人」是純屬虛構。

They say people who were obese but who had no initial signs ofheart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol were not protected fromill health in later life, contradicting previous research.

他們說，那些雖然肥胖卻沒有心臟病、糖尿病或高膽固醇等疾病的初期體征的人，在他們今後的生活中並不能免受這些疾病的困擾，這與以前的研究相矛盾。

The term "fat but fit" refers to the alluring theory that ifpeople are obese but all their other metabolic factors such asblood pressure and blood sugar are within recommended limits thenthe extra weight will not be harmful.

「肥胖卻健康」的說法指的是那種誘惑性理論——如果肥胖的人所有其他代謝指標如血壓和血糖都在推薦標準內，那麼超重就不會有害。

In this study, researchers at the University of Birminghamanalysed data of millions of British patients between 1995 and 2015to see if this claim held true.

在這項研究中，伯明翰大學的研究人員分析了1995年至2015年間數百萬英國病人的數據，來看看這一說法是否正確。

They tracked people who were obese at the start of the study(defined as people with a body mass index of 30 or more) who had noevidence of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol ordiabetes at this point.

他們跟蹤了在研究開始時（被定義為身體質量指數為30以上的人）沒有心臟病、高血壓、高膽固醇或糖尿病等跡象的肥胖人士。

They found these people who were obese but "metabolicallyhealthy" were at higher risk of developing heart disease, strokesand heart failure than people of normal weight.

他們發現那些肥胖但「代謝健康」的人比正常體重的人群患心臟病、中風和心力衰竭的風險更高。

Dr Mike Knapton, from the British Heart Foundation, said:"Whatwas new from this study for me is that it showed that people whowere overweight or obese were at increased risk of heart diseaseeven though they may have been healthy in every other respect.

英國心臟基金會的MikeKnapton博士說：「這項研究對我來說的新鮮之處在於，超重或肥胖的人患心臟病的風險會增加，儘管他們在其他方面可能都很健康。」

"Just being overweight puts you at increased risk of heartattack and stroke."

「單純的超重就會讓你心臟病發作和中風的風險增加。」

Other studies suggest it might just be possible to be fat andhave the right genes, for example, to remain fit.

其他研究卻表明，對那些肥胖且擁有合適的基因的人，保持健康是有可能的。

For example research published in 2012 appears to suggests it ispossible for people to buck the trend and be fat and healthy ifthey have no metabolic diseases.

例如2012年發表的研究似乎表明，如果肥胖的人沒有代謝疾病，則可能消除不健康的趨勢，變得雖肥胖但健康。

And other studies have suggested that it is not always theamount of fat that matters but where the excess fat is carried onthe body that can affect fitness and health.

而另有一些研究表明，脂肪的總量並不一定是關鍵因素，更能影響身體健康的是多餘的脂肪處於身體的哪個部位。

Overall, experts say it is important to not just focus on whatyou see in the mirror or on the scales - exercise and healthyeating can help boost wellness, no matter how much a personweighs.

總的來說，專家指出，僅僅照鏡子或稱體重是不夠的，無論一個人的體重是多少，運動和健康的飲食總可以使人健康。