资料图：自测腰围　

　　In recent weeks and months, Shanghai residents have been receiving an unusual present in their mailboxes. The elongated blue packages contain a small self-help manual and a dinky little measuring tape - surely just the thing discerning citizens of China's biggest city have been waiting for。

　　最近一段时期以来，上海市居民的邮箱里陆续收到一件非同寻常的礼包：一份自助手册和一个小卷尺———这肯定是眼界不低的上海市民所盼望的。

　　But these "Healthy expo, healthy Shanghai" gifts from the local government are part of a citywide push to promote fitness and battle obesity. The tape measure has a dial to calculate the user's body mass index, and the tape turns from green to red at 80 centimeters, apparently the point at which a woman's body fat can start to become a health issue。

　　当地政府派送的这些“健康世博、健康上海”礼包，是全市开展保持健康和抵制肥胖运动的一部分。卷尺上标有计算体重指数的刻度，其中从80厘米处由绿色变为红色，表明如果女性的腰围大于这个刻度就会开始出现健康问题。

　　It's hardly the most tactful way to suggest residents may need to pay more attention to their diet and weight, but it demonstrates the degree of concern among officials over an issue shaping up to be a major social and political headache. Girths are growing fast, particularly among the affluent - and even just the mildly well-off. Everywhere you look in Shanghai, rotund bellies and thunder thighs are on show。

　　在提醒居民可能需要更多关注饮食和体重方面，这还算不上最费尽心思的举措，但它的确显示出当地官员对这个即将成为一个困扰社会政治的主要问题的关注度。人们的腰围迅速变粗，尤其在富人中，甚至小康之家亦不例外。圆滚滚的肚子和粗胖的大腿在上海随处可见。北美地区街头经常走来一群大胖子的景象在上海仍不多见———但这种极端状况也不再是闻所未闻。