Poking fun at fat people should be treated as seriously as racism and sexism, researchers have said.
研究人員表示，取笑肥胖人士的現象應像種族歧視和性別歧視一樣被嚴肅處理。

Obesity expert Dr Sarah Jackson said that the law should protect against weight discrimination, in the same way at it prohibits singling out people based on their age, gender or race.
肥胖專家莎拉?杰克遜博士表示，法律應當禁止肥胖歧視，正如法律禁止年齡、性別及種族歧視一樣。

Dr Jackson, of University College London, spoke out after conducting two studies into the physical and psychological effects of fattism.
就職于倫敦大學學院的杰克遜博士在進行了兩項關于‘肥胖歧視’對于生理和心理影響的研究后，發表了上述看法。

Her latest study, of more than 5,000 British adults found that those who were made to feel ashamed of their size suffered more symptoms of depression.
在她的最新研究中，通過對5000多名英國成年人的調查研究，她發現越是那些羞愧于自己體型的人被抑郁癥折磨得越厲害。

They also had a lower quality of life than those who didn’t feel victimised.
同時，這些人的生活質量也遠低于那些不受肥胖歧視困擾的人。

Examples of fattism included being treated disrespectfully, including being the butt of jokes, receiving poorer services in shops, restaurants, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, being threatened and being assumed to be stupid.
肥胖歧視的表現包括：被無禮對待；被取笑；在商店、餐廳、醫院以及醫生治療時得不到良好服務；被威脅；被認為是愚蠢的象征。

She previously showed shaming fat people into losing weight is counterproductive.
而她之前的研究顯示通過嘲笑來促使肥胖人士減肥會適得其反。

Far from shocking people into slimming, it actually leads to them piling on the pounds.
別人的嘲笑不僅不會使他們變瘦，事實上還會導致他們體重增加。

It is thought fattism drives those who are already sensitive about their weight to comfort eat. Fear of ridicule may also mean they avoid exercise.
研究認為，肥胖歧視使得那些本已經對自身體重十分敏感的人自暴自棄，大吃特吃。而且，出于對被嘲笑的恐懼，這些肥胖人士還會拒絕運動。

With two-thirds of British women overweight or obese, jibes, taunts and simple thoughtlessness could be having a huge effect on the nation’s mental and psychological health.
而在英國有三分之二的女性都存在超重或者肥胖問題，嘲弄、辱罵以及輕率對待肥胖人士就有可能對整個國家的精神和心理健康狀況產生重大影響。

Dr Sarah Jackson, the lead author of both studies, said that people may believe that weight discrimination is socially acceptable because unlike ageism, sexism and racism, it is not covered by law.
兩項研究的第一作者莎拉?杰克遜博士表示：“不像年齡、性別、種族歧視，肥胖歧視不受法律管制，于是人們就可能認為體重歧視是被社會接受的。

She said: ‘In the United Kingdom, the Equality Act 2010 legally protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, or gender reassignment; making it clear that discriminatory behaviour of this nature is not to be accepted.
“在英國，通過頒布《2010平等法案》，每個人都可以免受因年齡、性別、種族、殘疾、宗教信仰、性取向、婚姻狀況、懷孕、變性這些不同自然選擇帶來的歧視。

‘However, our results indicate that discriminatory experiences contribute to poorer psychological wellbeing in individuals with obesity, but there are currently no laws prohibiting weight discrimination.
“然而，我們的研究結果顯示：盡管肥胖人士飽受因被歧視帶來的心理問題困擾，但是現行法律中沒有哪部法律禁止體重歧視。

‘This might send the message to people that weight discrimination is socially acceptable.
“這就可能給人們傳達這樣一個訊息：體重歧視是被社會接受認可的。

‘If weight was a protected category it might help to reduce the prevalence of weight-related discrimination and thereby improve quality of life and wellbeing for a significant proportion of obese individuals.’
“如果體重屬于法律保護的一個范疇，就有可能降低肥胖歧視的發生率，因此就有利于更多肥胖人士享受健康生活，提高其生活質量。”

Vocabulary

fattism：胖人歧視

counterproductive：適得其反

taunt：嘲笑

jibe：挖苦，嘲諷

（翻譯：向晶晶BISTU 編輯：Helen）