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  3. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a study showing that, because of food production and

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a study showing that, because of food production and

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问题     Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a study showing that, because of food production and transportation factors, a population of heavier people contributes more harmful gases to the planet than a population of thin people.
    Given that it takes more energy to move heavier people, transportation of heavier people requires more fuel, which creates more greenhouse gas emissions, the authors write.
    "The main message is staying thin. It’s good for you, and it’s good for the planet," said Phil Edwards, senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
    More than 1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and about 300 million are obese (过度肥胖的), the study said. Generally, the body mass index, a measure of obesity, is increasing in most countries worldwide, from China to European countries to the United States.
    BMI is going up because of the availability of food and motorized transportation, Edwards said. People are less active now than they were 30 years ago, and the prevalence of fast food has given people less healthy, more energy-dense options.
    Using statistical models, the authors compared the distribution of BMI in the United Kingdom in the 1970s — when 3.5 percent of the population was obese — with a prediction for the country’s BMI distribution in 2010, reflecting 40 percent obesity.
    "In terms of environmental impact, the lean population has a much smaller carbon footprint," Edwards said.
    The population with 40 percent obese people requires 19 percent more food energy for its total energy expenditure than the population with 3.5 percent obese people, the study showed. This 19 percent increase in food consumption translates into an increase of 270 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the study said.
    "The findings make sense and highlight an important global co-benefit of losing weight, along with the significant personal health benefits," said Patrick Kinney, associate professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study.
    In terms of obesity rate, the US population is not far off from the overweight population model in this study. The country has 33.3 percent obese people, according to the Mayo Clinic.
    The study suggests that governments have a responsibility to encourage people to be more physically active, Edwards said. Active transportation, such as cycling and walking, helps maintain a healthy weight but requires safe streets, he said.
    "If the government wants to promote active transport, which would be good for the environment and for individual health, it needs to make the environment safe to do that," he said.
To reduce the number of obese people, Edwards suggested that governments______.
选项 A、encourage people to take advantage of indoor exercises
B、rebuild all the roads and ban the production of unhealthy food
C、act to ensure people can take active transportation safely
D、cooperate with each other to make the Earth safe
答案C
解析 根据题干中的governments将本题出处定位到末段。该段引言内容提到，积极的交通对环境和个人健康都有好处，如果政府想要提倡积极的交通，首先应使环境足够安全。[C]与此意相符，故为答案。
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