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Are you thinking about cutting down a bit? Maybe trying that new app that helps you monitor your alcohol? Perhaps you’re trying to quit that cheeky cigarette you had last night — you know, the one you only have at parties, to be social, after a few glasses of wine?
你是否在考虑减少一点饮酒？也许你正在尝试一款可以帮助你监控酒精摄入量的新应用？或者你正想戒掉昨晚那根“心存侥幸”的烟——你知道的，就是那种只在聚会时、喝了几杯酒后、为了合群才抽的烟？
According to a new report from Finland, that day can’t come too soon. In a peer-reviewed study, published in the Annals of Medicine, it was discovered that bad habits such as heavy drinking, smoking and lack of exercise are associated with declines in health in people as young as 36. The study followed the progress of hundreds of children born in Jyväskylä, Finland, in 1959, collecting data at different stages in their lives.
根据芬兰一项最新报告，这一天的到来越早越好。在一项发表在《医学年鉴》、经过同行评审的研究中，研究人员发现，酗酒、吸烟和缺乏锻炼等不良习惯与健康状况下降有关，而且这种影响在年仅36岁的人群中就已显现。该研究跟踪了1959年出生于芬兰于韦斯屈莱的数百名儿童，在他们生命的不同阶段收集了相关数据。
The results came with various caveats: they were particular to people born in Finland and other western countries in the late 1950s. And future studies would include diet in the research. Nevertheless, the message was a grim one: we should tackle risky health behaviours as early as possible to prevent cumulative damage to both our physical and mental health. It signed off with the cheery consolation that, even if you’ve slightly missed the boat in terms of timings, “adopting healthier habits in mid-life also has benefits for older age.” Well, great.
这些结果有诸多限定条件：它们主要适用于20世纪50年代末出生于芬兰及其他西方国家的人群。未来的研究还将把饮食因素纳入考察。尽管如此，传递的信息依然令人沮丧：我们应尽早应对有风险的健康行为，以防止对身心健康造成累积性损害。文章最后略带安慰地指出，即使你在时间上稍有错过，“在中年养成更健康的习惯，对老年同样有益。”嗯，好吧。
Thirty-six seems preternaturally youthful to have already cycled through one’s vices and be working for the betterment of one’s future health. Although, as a decade in which many people are having babies, it’s typically a moment when people instinctively make health changes for the good of someone else’s health. Even so, I still felt inviolably healthy in my thirties, still capable of shouldering a skinful and ploughing through on almost zero sleep. The creaks, aches and spasms that accompanied my forties still felt far away.
在三十六岁，就已经经历过各种恶习，并开始为未来的健康着想，似乎还很年轻。虽然三十多岁是许多人开始生儿育女的阶段，这通常也是人们本能地为了他人的健康而做出生活方式改变的时刻。即便如此，我在三十多岁时依然觉得自己健康无虞，依然能喝得酩酊大醉，几乎不睡觉也能硬撑下去。那些在四十岁后才出现的关节响声、酸痛和抽筋，当时还觉得遥不可及。
The Finnish findings seem quite consistent with a far greater health awareness among the youth. There’s compelling evidence that younger generations are already way ahead of us. Successive surveys have found cigarette consumption to be declining across Europe for several years, varying according to sex, age and education level, and with major differences in consumption between EU and non-EU states.
芬兰的研究结果似乎与当代年轻人健康意识显著提升的趋势高度一致。有充分证据显示，年轻一代在这方面已经遥遥领先于我们。连续多项调查发现，近年来欧洲各地的香烟消费量持续下降，具体情况因性别、年龄和受教育程度而异，且欧盟国家与非欧盟国家之间的消费差异也十分明显。
More anecdotally, I am continually astonished by the degree to which Gen Z is focused on its wellbeing. Not so much the long-term habits regarding vices — we all know that smoking is just idiotic — but in the strange pernicious health memes they subconsciously pick up. A current obsession in our house, for example, is set around what time of day one should have a shower: a rash of TikTok videos about “outdoor clothes” and germs have given rise to the importance of the evening cleanse. Numerous other health tics have gone similarly viral, and health advice from random influencers quickly become gospel truths. They are irritatingly convincing: having been told that it’s “disgusting to sit on a bed in jeans that have been worn outside”, it’s hard to dislodge it from your mind.
从日常观察来看，我一直对Z世代对自身健康的关注程度感到惊讶。并不是说他们在长期恶习上有多自律——毕竟大家都知道吸烟很愚蠢——而是他们会无意识地接受一些奇怪且有害的健康观念。比如，我们家最近的一个执念就是一天中到底什么时候洗澡：一波关于“外出服”和细菌的TikTok视频让晚上洗澡变得格外重要。许多类似的健康小习惯也在网络上疯传，来自各种网红的健康建议很快就成了“金科玉律”。这些说法让人难以抗拒：比如有人说“穿着在外面穿过的牛仔裤坐在床上很恶心”，你就很难把这个念头从脑海里抹去。
I’ve shaved my bad habits down to the bare minimum, but perhaps it’s all in vain. Do I now have to be teetotal?
我已经把坏习惯减到最低限度了，但也许这一切都是徒劳。难道我现在还得滴酒不沾吗？
Inevitably, it must be an adjunct of the pandemic culture that the upcoming generations will be germaphobes. I would hazard also that being locked up for months with no other outlet has made them far more obsessed with diet and food. And this may be a good thing — young people are streets ahead of where I was at the same age on the subject of exercise and nutritional health. And while they might be choking on a mango-scented vape while they do so, they can explain the dangers of B6 or the wonders of magnesium.
不可避免地，疫情文化的一个附属品就是，未来的一代人会变得更加有洁癖。我还大胆猜测，被关在家里几个月、没有其他消遣方式，也让他们对饮食和食物更加痴迷。而这或许是一件好事——在锻炼和营养健康方面，如今的年轻人远远领先于我同龄时的水平。尽管他们可能一边吸着芒果味的电子烟一边讨论这些话题，但他们却能详细解释维生素B6的危害，或是镁的神奇功效。
But what about those people stuck in the post-36 conundrum, who haven’t quite had the chance to set things right? I’ve shaved my bad habits down to the bare minimum, but perhaps it’s all in vain. If 36 is the new 60, then I’m dangerously old. Should I continue with the rather-too-many-units of alcohol I’m used to, or do I now have to be teetotal?
但那些陷入“36岁困境”、还没来得及把一切纠正过来的人怎么办呢？我已经把坏习惯减到了最低限度，但也许这一切都是徒劳。如果36岁已经成了新的60岁，那我岂不是已经危险地“老了”？我该继续保持我习惯的高酒精摄入量，还是现在就必须滴酒不沾？
Thankfully I am reassured by NHS guidance on the benefits of giving up smoking. Repeat after me this mantra: after one year of quitting, the risk of heart attack halves. After 10 years, the risk of death from lung cancer falls to half as well.
值得庆幸的是，英国国家医疗服务体系(NHS)的指南让我对戒烟的益处感到安心。请跟我一起重复这句口号：戒烟一年后，心脏病发作的风险会减半；戒烟十年后，死于肺癌的风险也会降至一半。
The drinking advice is less emphatic, lots of woolly info about feeling more energetic (no kidding), lower blood pressure and saving thousands of calories. And I’m confused even further by another study in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Those authors found the consumption of white wine, champagne and fruit might have a cardioprotective effect. They also said it helped to be wealthy, well-educated and active, which I feel triggers a few red flags, but in a study of 502,094 middle-to-older-aged people, the findings suggested that between 40 to 63 per cent of sudden cardiac arrest cases may be avoidable if we drink champagne (or something along those lines).
关于饮酒的建议则没那么明确，充斥着诸如“感觉更有活力”（不是开玩笑）、降低血压和节省数千卡路里的模糊信息。而《加拿大心脏病学杂志》上的另一项研究则让我更加困惑。研究作者发现，饮用白葡萄酒、香槟和水果可能对心脏有保护作用。他们还表示，富裕、受过良好教育且生活积极的人也有帮助，这让我觉得有些可疑。不过，在对502,094名中老年人的研究中，结果显示，如果我们喝香槟（或类似的饮品），40%到63%的心脏骤停病例或许可以避免。
“One of the study’s most intriguing findings . . . [questions] long-held assumptions about the specificity of red wine’s cardioprotective properties,” say Nicholas Grubic from the University of Toronto, and Dakota Gustafson, from Queen’s University in Ontario. Moreover, “these findings reinforce the idea that the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption may be more complex than previously assumed.”
多伦多大学(University of Toronto)的尼古拉斯•格鲁比奇(Nicholas Grubic)和安大略省皇后大学(Queen’s University)的达科塔•古斯塔夫森(Dakota Gustafson)表示：“该研究最有趣的发现之一是，它对红葡萄酒心脏保护特异性这一长期以来的假设提出了质疑。”此外，“这些发现进一步强化了这样一种观点：适量饮酒的益处可能比此前认为的更加复杂。”
Given that I was on my third or fourth glass at the precise moment of this revelation, I felt a crossroads had been met. My 36-year-old self appeared before me. “FFS,” she advised me firmly. “Have another round.”
鉴于我在得知这一启示的那一刻，正喝着第三杯还是第四杯酒，我觉得自己已经走到了人生的十字路口。我的36岁自我出现在我面前，坚定地对我说：“拜托，再来一轮吧。”
Email Jo at jo.ellison@ft.com
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