Poking¹ fun at fat people should be treated as seriously as racism² and sexism, researchers have said。

研究人员表示，取笑肥胖人士的现象应像种族歧视和性别歧视一样被严肃处理。

Obesity³ 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, gender⁴ or race。

肥胖专家莎拉•杰克逊博士表示，法律应当禁止肥胖歧视，正如法律禁止年龄、性别及种族歧视一样。

Dr Jackson, of University College London, spoke⁵ out after conducting two studies into the physical and psychological effects of fattism。

就职于伦敦大学学院的杰克逊博士在进行了两项关于‘肥胖歧视’对于生理和心理影响的研究后，发表了上述看法。

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，通过对5000多名英国成年人的调查研究，她发现越是那些羞愧于自己体型的人被抑郁症折磨得越厉害。

They also had a lower quality of life than those who didn’t feel victimised。

同时，这些人的生活质量也远低于那些不受肥胖歧视困扰的人。

Examples of fattism included being treated disrespectfully, including being the butt⁶ of jokes, receiving poorer services in shops, restaurants, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, being threatened and being assumed to be stupid。

肥胖歧视的表现包括：被无礼对待；被取笑；在商店、餐厅、医院以及医生治疗时得不到良好服务；被威胁；被认为是愚蠢的象征。

She previously⁷ showed shaming fat people into losing weight is counterproductive。

而她之前的研究显示通过嘲笑来促使肥胖人士减肥会适得其反。

Far from shocking people into slimming, it actually leads to them piling on the pounds。

别人的嘲笑不仅不会使他们变瘦，事实上还会导致他们体重增加。

It is thought fattism drives those who are already sensitive about their weight to comfort eat. Fear of ridicule⁸ may also mean they avoid exercise。

研究认为，肥胖歧视使得那些本已经对自身体重十分敏感的人自暴自弃，大吃特吃。而且，出于对被嘲笑的恐惧，这些肥胖人士还会拒绝运动。

With two-thirds of British women overweight or obese⁹, jibes¹⁰, taunts¹¹ and simple thoughtlessness could be having a huge effect on the nation’s mental and psychological health。

而在英国有三分之二的女性都存在超重或者肥胖问题，嘲弄、辱骂以及轻率对待肥胖人士就有可能对整个国家的精神和心理健康状况产生重大影响。

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。

两项研究的第一作者莎拉•杰克逊博士表示：“不像年龄、性别、种族歧视，肥胖歧视不受法律管制，于是人们就可能认为体重歧视是被社会接受的。

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 orientation¹², marital¹³ status, pregnancy¹⁴, or gender reassignment; making it clear that discriminatory behaviour of this nature is not to be accepted。

“在英国，通过颁布《2010平等法案》，每个人都可以免受因年龄、性别、种族、残疾、宗教信仰、性取向、婚姻状况、怀孕、变性这些不同自然选择带来的歧视。

‘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，我们的研究结果显示：尽管肥胖人士饱受因被歧视带来的心理问题困扰，但是现行法律中没有哪部法律禁止体重歧视。

‘This might send the message to people that weight discrimination is socially acceptable。

“这就可能给人们传达这样一个讯息：体重歧视是被社会接受认可的。

‘If weight was a protected category it might help to reduce the prevalence of weight-related discrimination and thereby¹⁵ improve quality of life and wellbeing for a significant proportion of obese individuals.’

“如果体重属于法律保护的一个范畴，就有可能降低肥胖歧视的发生率，因此就有利于更多肥胖人士享受健康生活，提高其生活质量。”