How to stay slim? Walk a MARATHON a week
 
    It will make unpleasant reading for dieters who have been hoping that light exercise was the key to weight loss.

    For it seems the most successful slimmers chalk up a marathon a week, according to research.

    A study found that those who exercised for 60 to 90 minutes a day - walking the equivalent of a marathon each week - tended to shed at least two stones and kept the weight off for six years.

    The data contradicts the popular theory that gentle exercise is enough to stay slim.

    The American Association for Advancement of Science's conference on Sunday also heard fresh calls from a British expert for a more urgent global response to the obesity crisis.

    Professor Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, believes the obesity epidemic is now too serious to be treated as a "lifestyle choice" issue.

    "Just as the threat of climate change has begun to be taken seriously when it may be almost too late, the threat of an obesity-related health disaster around the world needs urgent action because, like climate change, its effects are exceptionally difficult to reverse," he said.

    The professor wants governments and industry to work together to tackle the causes of obesity - just as they have done to cut carbon emissions.

    And he warned the crisis would not be resolved simply by telling people to exercise and eat less.

    Calling on world leaders to agree a pact on fighting obesity, Professor James said major changes were needed in food production, advertising and town planning.

    Healthy food should be made cheaper, the advertising of junk food to children clearly regulated and towns built not around roads and cars but around walking and public transport.

    "We can no longer afford to wait," he said.

    "If we fail to act until we have the perfect solution, it will be too late."

    In Britain, a quarter of women and a fifth of men are classed as obese, at a cost to the NHS of £1billion a year.

    一直希望通過少量運動即可減肥的人士看到這篇文章后一定會不開心。

    因為研究表明，最成功的瘦身人士每周堅持走一次“馬拉松”。

    一項研究發現，每天鍛煉60分鐘至90分鐘的人（相當于每周走一次馬拉松）至少可以減掉兩英石（相當于28磅）的體重，而且六年不會反彈。

    這一數據否認了“少量運動即可保持身材”的普遍說法。

    在美國科學促進協會上周日舉行的研討會上，一名英國專家呼吁世界各地對肥胖危機做出更為積極的回應。

    國際肥胖特別機構主席菲利普•詹姆斯教授提出，目前肥胖流行問題十分嚴重，已不能將其視為一個“生活方式選擇”的問題。

    “就像氣候變化問題現在開始得到重視，但為時已晚；所以世界各地由肥胖引起的健康威脅急需解決，因為肥胖與氣候變化一樣，產生的后果極難挽回。”

    詹姆斯教授希望政府與行業部門通力合作，根治肥胖問題——就像治理氣候變化過程中控制二氧化碳的排放一樣。

    他提出警告，單靠讓人們運動、節食是無法解決肥胖問題的。

    詹姆斯教授呼吁世界各國領導人簽署抵制肥胖協議，他說，食品生產、廣告和城鎮規劃等領域都需要“大動作”。

    要降低健康食品的價格、明確禁止針對兒童的垃圾食品廣告、城區不應以馬路和車為主，而應多設人行道和公交設施。

    他說：“我們再也等不起了。”

    “如果我們等找到最完美的解決方案再行動，那就太晚了。”

    英國有四分之一的女性和五分之一的男性存在肥胖問題，全國衛生服務系統每年要為此支付10億英鎊。 

    Vocabulary: 

    chalk up:達到；取得（如: chalk up a record 取得一個新記錄）