The obesity¹ rate in northern China is significantly higher than that of southern China, with Beijing topping the scale, according to a recent report issued by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

根据中国疾病预防控制中心的最近一项报告显示，相比于中国南方来说，中国北方的肥胖率要高得多，其中北京最高。

The research team defined "overweight" adults as those with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, and "obese²" adults as those with a BMI of 30 or more.

该研究团队将“超重”定义为体重指数在25到30之间的成年人，“肥胖”则是体重指数在30或者以上的成年人。

The data showed that the obesity rate in Beijing was 25.9 percent, while the average national obesity rate was 11.9 percent.

数据显示，北京肥胖率为25.9%，而国家平均肥胖率仅为11.9%。

Hebei ranked the second with 22.2 percent, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous³ region ranked the third with 21.5 percent.

河北以22.2%的数据排在第二位，其次是以21.5%排在第三位的新疆。

The average overweight rate in the north was over 35 percent, and the average overweight rate in the south was 27 percent. The overweight rates in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Heilongjiang stood above 37 percent while the figures in Fujian, Guizhou and Guangdong were below 27 percent.

北方地区的平均超重率在35%以上，而南方只有27%。河北、内蒙、陕西和黑龙江三地的超重率都在37%以上，而福建、贵州和广东等地的超重率则在27%以下。

According to Wang Jingzhong, researcher with the Nutrition and Health Institute of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the latitude⁴ in northern China is much higher than the southern regions. In the cold weather, human metabolism⁵ in the north is slower.

据中国疾病预防控制中心营养健康研究所的王京忠表示，北方纬度比南方要高。在寒冷的天气里，北方人的人体新陈代谢比较慢。

Apart from the weather factors, obesity is also closely related to the diet structure of the people. In the north, residents eat more cereals, high fat and high cholesterol⁶ foods and often drink wine, which results in more obesity.

除了天气原因之外，肥胖也和人们的饮食结构密切相关。在北方，人们吃更多的谷类、高脂肪和高胆固醇食品，而且频繁饮酒，这就造成了更高的肥胖率。