Hills look harder to climb if you are fat

By Josh Eells

暴飲暴食不僅會(huì)導(dǎo)致腰圍暴漲，還會(huì)讓你覺(jué)得山高路遠(yuǎn)。研究表明，過(guò)度肥胖會(huì)影響感知功能。因此，在胖子眼中，坡更陡，路更遠(yuǎn)。

Research shows that being overweight distorts perception.As a result,fat people see distances as being further and slopes as being steeper.This could put them off exercising and so leave them trapped in a vicious circle,where the fatter they get,the less activity they want to do.

Researcher Jessica Witt said,of Colorado State University,said it is wrong to assume that we all perceive the world in the same way.

In one study,she asked 66 people of different shapes and sizes to estimate how far away a traffic cone was.

The cone was actually 25m away.

Those who were a slim nine stone saw it as being just 15m from them,but those who weighed in at 23 stone judged it to be 30m away—or twice as far.

研究表明，過(guò)度肥胖會(huì)影響感知功能。因此，在胖子眼中，坡更陡，路更遠(yuǎn)。也難怪胖子們對(duì)鍛煉敬而遠(yuǎn)之了。這就是個(gè)惡性循環(huán)，人越胖，便越不愿運(yùn)動(dòng)。

科羅拉多州立大學(xué)的研究員杰西卡·威特稱(chēng)，不應(yīng)盲目認(rèn)為所有人感知到的世界都是相同的。

在一項(xiàng)研究中，她詢(xún)問(wèn)身形體態(tài)各異的66人他們距前方的路障有多遠(yuǎn)。

正確答案是25米。

身形纖瘦、體重9英石（約合57公斤）的采訪對(duì)象表示，他們離路障15米遠(yuǎn)。而重達(dá)23英石（約合146公斤）的人則稱(chēng)，他們離路障有30米遠(yuǎn)——是前者數(shù)據(jù)的足足兩倍。

威特博士在研究中共采訪了數(shù)百人，她還得出另一個(gè)結(jié)論：同一個(gè)斜坡，在胖子眼中更加陡峭。

她認(rèn)為，人腦會(huì)在無(wú)意識(shí)中判斷距離。由于胖子不愿運(yùn)動(dòng)，預(yù)估出較遠(yuǎn)的距離便成了絕佳“借口”。

重點(diǎn)是，整個(gè)判斷過(guò)程未受主觀控制。

因此，胖子們或許并不是因?yàn)閼卸辉高\(yùn)動(dòng)，而是因?yàn)槭澜缭谒麄冄壑械臉幼拥拇_不同于其他人。

如果他們想下定決心甩掉贅肉，則需要一步一步來(lái)。

威特在美國(guó)科學(xué)促進(jìn)會(huì)年會(huì)上發(fā)言道：“在指導(dǎo)肥胖人士鍛煉時(shí)，教練需心中有數(shù)，一些看起來(lái)簡(jiǎn)單的動(dòng)作對(duì)胖子而言，并非易事?！?/p>

“不少肥胖人士會(huì)認(rèn)為，那根本是可怕的‘不可能任務(wù)’?！?/p>

“不少人會(huì)覺(jué)得，胖子們就是懶惰成性。但我們不妨捫心自問(wèn)，讓自己多走一個(gè)來(lái)回，你會(huì)愿意嗎？”

威特稱(chēng)，肥胖人士不妨嘗試佩戴遠(yuǎn)視眼鏡，強(qiáng)化感知功能。

她總結(jié)道：“我們認(rèn)為，感知缺陷會(huì)導(dǎo)致肥胖人士陷入惡性循環(huán)，仿佛萬(wàn)事萬(wàn)物都離他們千里之遠(yuǎn)?！?/p>

“如此一來(lái)，肥胖人士就更不愿挪動(dòng)腳步了，生活也變得越來(lái)越不健康?！?/p>

Dr.Witt’s research,which involved hundreds of people overall,also showed that the overweight perceive slopes as being steeper.

She believes these calculations are done unconsciously and are the body’s way of saving it from the extra effort needed to exercise when overweight.

Importantly,they have no control over this.

So,far from being lazy when they baulk at the thought of exercise,the overweight are simply being seeing the world differently.

And if they want to exercise away their flab they should start small.

She told the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference:“Someone trying to help a client with obesity become more active needs to understand the tasks they are asking their client to perform don’t look as easy to them.”

“So the client is going to see these tasks as being daunting or even impossible.”

“And they might be considered to be lazy but maybe lots of us wouldn’t walk a distance that looked twice as far.”

The researcher said that alternatively,the obese could try wearing telescopic glasses,to change their perception.

Dr.Witt concluded:“We think that these perceptual biases can create a vicious cycle for people with obesity where they see the world as impossible to navigate.”

“They will be less likely to choose to be active—and that’s going to continue this unhealthy lifestyle.”