肥胖

• Pinyin: féi pàng
• Hanzi breakdown: 肥 = 月 + 卩 (flesh + kneeling figure — plump, fatty); 胖 = 月 + 半 (flesh + half — half-flesh, signifying excess body mass)

Meaning

Obese; obesity. Describes a condition of excessive body fat that is beyond normal healthy weight, often used in medical and public health contexts.

A clinical and formal term used in medical, public health, and academic discourse. More objective and medical in register than 胖 (fat), which is neutral to colloquial. Commonly appears in health statistics, disease research, and policy discussions.

Examples

1. 世界卫生组织将肥胖列为全球性慢性病，其引发的心血管疾病、二型糖尿病及多种癌症每年造成的死亡人数已超过因营养不良导致的死亡总数。 The World Health Organization classifies obesity as a global chronic disease. Deaths from obesity-related cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and multiple cancers each year have already surpassed the total deaths caused by malnutrition.
2. 这项历时十年的队列研究发现，儿童期肥胖与成年后罹患代谢综合征的风险之间存在显著的正相关关系，且该风险难以通过后期体重管理完全消除。 A ten-year cohort study found a strong positive correlation between childhood obesity and the risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood, and that risk is difficult to fully eliminate through weight management later in life.
3. 随着超加工食品消费量的持续攀升和城市久坐生活方式的普遍化，发展中国家的肥胖率在过去二十年间出现了令公共卫生专家深感警惕的急剧上升。 As consumption of ultra-processed foods keeps rising and sedentary urban lifestyles become more common, obesity rates in developing countries have surged sharply over the past twenty years, alarming public health experts.

Usage Guide

Context: medicine, public health, research, policy

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 临床上，体质指数超过三十就算肥胖，这类人患高血压、睡眠呼吸暂停和关节病的风险明显更高。(Clinically, a body mass index above 30 is considered obesity, and such people face a much higher risk of hypertension, sleep apnea, and joint disease.)
• 公共卫生政策的重心应从单纯治疗肥胖转向从食品环境、城市规划和学校健康教育等多维度系统性干预，方能实现对肥胖率上升趋势的根本性遏制。(The focus of public health policy should shift from simply treating obesity to systemic intervention across multiple dimensions including the food environment, urban planning, and school health education — only then can a fundamental curb on the rising obesity rate be achieved.)

Don't Say

• 肥胖 in casual or interpersonal contexts to describe a person — using 肥胖 to describe someone directly in conversation can be offensive; use 体重偏高 or discuss in clinical contexts only

Origin & History

肥 (fat; plump) + 胖 (fat; chubby) — both characters refer to excess body fat, together forming a medical compound meaning obesity

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal