West sitting on a health time bomb
金融危机导致亚健康？
导读：近日，奥美中国员工猝死事件再次引发公众对都市亚健康人群的关注。而在英国，就业压力和工作压力同样压得人们喘不过气。年轻人的亚健康成为社会一大问题。
The ongoing recession in the West is affecting young people in terms of less jobs and shrinking benefits. But its effects don’t stop there ― surveys reveal that the economic crisis is also bad news for the health of young people.
西方经济持续低迷正在影响着那里的年轻人——失业率升高、福利缩水。但其影响远不止于此——有关调查显示，金融危机也正在威胁着青少年的健康。
A 2012 poll by ICM Group, a research consultancy, revealed that 43 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds in the UK feel stressed by the economic downturn, more than among other age groups.
英国调查机构ICM于2012年进行的一项调查结果显示，在18到24岁之间的英国青少年人群中，有43%的人因经济低迷而倍感压力，这一数字要高于其他年龄段的调查结果。
This has resulted in 24 percent of under-25s drinking more heavily and 19 percent sleeping badly, according to the poll.
该项调查显示，巨大的压力致使25岁以下的青少年中，有24%的人酗酒，19%的人遭遇睡眠障碍。
“This group are the least likely to visit their GP (general practitioner) to discuss health concerns, yet are being badly hit by the economic downturn,” said Dr Sarah Jarvis, a UK-based GP, commenting on the poll’s findings. “Taking time out to address health worries is not a priority for young people.”
“青少年极少会就健康问题去看全科医生，而他们恰恰正在受到经济低迷的重创”对于此次调查的结果，来自英国的全科医生萨拉?贾维斯表示：“花时间来关心自己的健康并不是年轻人首要考虑的问题”
Besides their physical wellbeing, the mental health of young Westerners is also causing concern.
除了身体状况之外，西方年轻人的心理健康也引人担忧。
“We are sitting on a mental health time bomb and urgent action is needed to invest in mental health support services for young people,” Lucie Russell from YoungMinds, a UK-based charity working with young people, told The Huffington Post.
来自英国青少年慈善团体YoungMinds的露西?拉索尔在接受《赫芬顿邮报》采访时表示：“我们正坐在心理健康这个定时炸弹上，急需采取行动，投入到致力于提高青少年心理健康的活动中。”
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 20 percent of adolescents and young people suffer from mental health problems.
据世界卫生组织评估，有超过20%的青少年正遭遇着心理健康问题。
These problems, in turn, have a negative effect on the economy, resulting in a self-reinforcing cycle. Sleep deprivation, stress and drinking ― all these health issues reduce the working efficiency of employees and add to national healthcare costs. According to various studies, each of these health issues alone can cause billions of dollars in economic losses.
反过来，这些也会对经济产生负面影响，从而产生恶性循环。睡眠障碍、压力再加上酗酒——所有这些健康问题将会使员工的工作效率大打折扣，并增加国民医疗成本。各种研究表明，以上提到的这些健康问题，任何一个都足以导致数十亿美元的经济损失。
For instance, sleep disorders cost the Australian economy AU$5.1 billion (32 billion yuan) every year, the majority of which is due to lost productivity at work, a report by Deloitte Access Economics revealed.
例如，由德勤会计师事务所下属机构德勤经济发布的一份报告显示，睡眠障碍使得澳大利亚每年遭受51亿澳元（合320亿人民币）的经济损失，这主要源自于工作效率丧失。
In their new book The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, David Stuckler, political economist at Oxford University, and Sanjay Basu, epidemiologist at Stanford University, highlight even more severe consequences of the recession. According to them, the economic crisis has seen more than 10,000 suicides and up to a million cases of depression across Europe and North America.
在合著的新书《身体经济学：经济紧缩如何威胁健康》中，英国牛津大学政治经济学家戴维?施蒂克勒与美国斯坦福大学流行病学家桑贾伊?巴苏强调，经济衰退会导致更为严重的后果。他们表示，金融危机已经造成欧洲和北美地区1万多人自杀，超过100万人患上抑郁症。
But among these sobering statistics, there is good news, which is that recessions can be prevented from turning into health epidemics ― if governments respond effectively.
但是，在这些发人深省的统计数字中，仍有个好消息，那就是：如果政府对此有效干预，就可以防止经济衰退演变成健康疾病的蔓延。
“Worsening health is not an inevitable consequence of economic recessions,” Basu said in a statement, China Daily reported. “It’s a political choice.”
据《中国日报》报道，巴苏发表的一项声明称：“健康恶化并非经济衰退的必然结果， 这是一个政治选择。”
Looks like it’s time to get serious about young people’s state of sub-health.
看来是时候来严肃看待青少年的亚健康问题了。
