Obesity (肥胖): the Scourge (祸害) of the Western World Obesity is rapidly becoming a new scourge of the western world, delegates agreed at the llth European Conference on the issue in Vienna Wednesday to Saturday. According to statements before the opening of the conference — of 2,000 specialists from more than 50 countries — 1.2 billion people worldwide are overweight, and 250 million are obese. Professor Bernhard Ludvik of Vienna General Hospital said,' Obesity is a chronic illness. In Germany, 20 per cent of the people are already affected, but in Japan only one per cent.' But he said that there was hope for sufferers thanks to the new scientific discoveries and medication. Professor Friedrich Hopichler of Salzberg said, 'We are living in the new age (but) with the metabolism of a stone — age man.' 'I have just been to the United States. It is really terrible. A pizza shop is springing up on every comer. We have been overran by fast food and Coca-Cola-ization.' Many of the experts stressed that obesity was a potential killer. Hopichler said,' Eighty per cent of all diabetics are obese, also fifty per cent of all patients with high blood pressure and fifty per cent with adipose tissue complaints.' 'Ten per cent more weight means thirteen per cent more risk of heart disease. Reducing one's weight by ten per cent leads to thirteen per cent lower blood pressure.' Another expert Hermann Toplak said that the state health services should improve their financing of preventive programs. 'Though the health insurance pays for surgery (such as reducing the size of the stomach) when the body-mass index is more than 40. That is equivalent to a weight of 116 kilograms for a height of 1.70 meters. One should start earlier.' Ludvik said that prevention should begin in school. 'Child obesity (fat deposits) correlates with the time which children spend in front of TV sets.' The consequences were only apparent later on. No more than fifteen per cent of obese people lived to the average life expectancy for their population group. scourge n. 天灾;祸害 obesity n. 肥胖症 overrun vt. 侵扰；蹂躏 obese adj. 肥胖症 diabetic n. 糖悄病患者；adj.糖尿病的 medication n. 药物疗法 adipose adj.脂肪的；肥胖的 metabolism n.新陈代谢 It is estimated that there are ______ people suffering from obesity in the world.