事实上，虽然或许难与全球变暖及迫在眉睫的水资源匮乏相提并论，但肥胖 — — 尤其是儿童肥胖 — — 仍然是二十一世纪发达国家所面临的重要公共卫生挑战之一，同时也在迅速影响许多新兴市场经济。
Indeed, though perhaps not on a par with global warming and looming water shortages, obesity – and especially childhood obesity – nonetheless is on the short list of major public-health challenges facing advanced countries in the twenty-first century, and it is rapidly affecting many emerging-market economies as well.