A woman is undergoing a cosmetic surgery.

Cosmetic surgeryis altering not just how people look but how they feel by changing perceptions of middle age, a study showed Monday.

Global research group AC Nielsen surveyed people in 42 countries and found 60 percent of Americans, the world's biggest consumers of cosmetic surgery and anti-aging skincare, believe their sixties are the new middle age.

On a global scale, three out of five consumers believed forties was the new thirties.

"Our forties are being celebrated as the decade where we can be comfortable and confident in both personal and financial terms. The majority of global consumers really believe life starts at forty," AC Nielsen Europe President and CEO Frank Martell said.

But that doesn't mean they want to look their age.

Healthier eating, longer lifespans and higher disposable incomes have helped to hold back the years. However, for many people the biggest boost is coming from the surgeon's scalpel, the survey found.

Confirming Russians' status among the world's biggest consumers of luxury goods, 48 percent of them, the highest percentage globally, said they would consider cosmetic surgery to maintain their looks. One in three Irish consumers, 28 percent of Italians and Portuguese, and one in four U.S., French and British consumers felt the same.

本周一公布的一項調查顯示，整容手術不僅改變著人的容貌，而且還通過改變人們對中年的理解使人的心理發生變化。

AC尼爾森國際調查集團共對42個國家進行了調查，結果發現，60%的美國人認為60歲才是中年的開始。美國堪稱世界上最大的整容手術和抗衰老護膚品消費國。

從全世界范圍來看，五分之三的消費者認為40來歲正值壯年。

AC尼爾森集團歐洲區總裁兼首席執行官弗蘭克·瑪特爾說：“四十歲被認為是人生的黃金時期，這一階段我們在性格和經濟實力方面都變得成熟自信。所以，大多數全球消費者認為40歲才是美好生活的開始。”

但是人們又不希望自己的外表看上去有40歲。

雖然健康的飲食、壽命的延長和較高的收入對于人們延緩衰老起到了一定的作用。但調查顯示，很多人認為整容手術才是永葆青春的最佳途徑。

對世界上最大的奢侈品消費國之一俄羅斯的調查顯示，48%的俄羅斯消費者表示會考慮通過做整容手術來保持青春，這一比例為全世界最高。此外，三分之一的愛爾蘭人，28%的意大利人、葡萄牙人，四分之一的美國人、法國人和英國人也有同樣的想法。

Vocabulary:
cosmetic surgery :整容手術