The study found the "moderately" overweight now had lower rates of early death than those who were normal weight, underweight or obese¹.

这项研究发现，相比于体重正常、体重过轻、以及体重过重的人来说，那些体重“适度”超重的人早死的几率要小一些

The work, published in JAMA, looked at many thousands of people’s height, weight and death rates at three different time periods since the 1970s.

这项研究结果被刊载在JAMA上，它以成千上万人的身高、体重和死亡率为研究对象。自从上世纪70年代以来，该项研究在三个不同的时期记录下了这些数据。

A UK doctor said it did not mean being overweight was healthy or desirable.

但是一名英国医生说道，这并不意味着肥胖是健康或者可取的。

And advice about preventing obesity² should remain.

而且人们仍然应该谨记如何预防超重。

In the mid-1970s, those with the lowest death rates were a normal weight and the obese faced a 30% higher risk of early death, the doctors, from Copenhagen University, found.

哥本哈根大学的医生们发现，在上个世纪70年代中期，那些体重正常的人的死亡率最低，而超重的人早死的风险要高出30%。

But now the threat to people’s survival from being obese was now almost negligible

但是现在肥胖对人类生存的威胁几乎可以忽略不计了。

The authors say the most likely explanation is that health systems are now much better at treating obesity-linked conditions, such as high cholesterol³ and blood pressure.

这项研究的作者们说，（对这一现象）可能性最大的解释是现代医疗系统的显著改善，使得高胆固醇和高血压等由肥胖引起的病症更易于治疗。

Lead investigator⁴ Prof Borge Nordestgaard said: "Our results should not be interpreted as suggesting that now people can eat as much as they like, or that so-called normal-weight individuals should eat more to become overweight.

项目组首席研究员博奇·诺德斯特教授说：“我们的研究结果不应该被误读，它并不意味着现在人们可以随心所欲地满足自己的口腹之欲，也不意味着那些体重正常的人应该吃多一点来增重。”

"That said, maybe overweight people need not be quite as worried about their weight as before."

“这项研究结果的意义在于，现在肥胖的人也许不必再像以前那样担心自己的体重了。”

The Danish researchers say their work shows a need to update the global categories that define excess weight, which are now two decades old.

这群来自丹麦的研究人员声称，他们的研究结果指出目前全世界需要对肥胖定一个新的标准，因为目前现行的体重分级标准已经是二十年前制定的了。

But that idea was rejected by a British expert in metabolic⁵ medicine.

但是这一想法被一位英国专攻新陈代谢的医学专家拒绝了。

Prof Naveed Sattar, from the University of Glasgow, said: "These data are of interest, but they do not change advice we have been giving on obesity and its treatment and prevention.

来自格拉斯哥大学的纳瓦德·萨德尔教授说：“这些数据很有意思，但是它们不会改变我们对肥胖及其治疗和预防的建议。”

"The current findings do not mean that being overweight is protecting you from death, far from it.

“目前的结果并不意味着超重可以让你远离死亡。

"Obesity and overweight categories also signal risks for many diseases - such as type-2 diabetes⁶, liver disease, cancers, sleeping problems, multiple pregnancy⁷ complications, to name but a few.

“对于肥胖和超重的分级界定也是对患上许多其他疾病的风险信号，包括糖尿病、肝病、癌症和睡眠问题等，还有可能导致几种不同的多胎妊娠并发症。

"Although we can manage many of those much better these days, such complications also impair⁸ quality of life and self-esteem, as well as increase health costs for societies."

“尽管我们现在要比以前能够更好地治疗这些疾病，但是这些并发症也能够损害患者的生活质量和自尊，同时也会增加整个社会的医疗支出。