VOA慢速英语2016 亚洲儿童面临饥饿和肥胖两重天

AS IT IS 2016-03-31 Asian Children Face Hunger and Obesity¹ 亚洲儿童面临饥饿和肥胖两重天

Asian children are becoming increasingly under-nourished or obese², a new report says.

有报告显示：亚洲儿童营养过剩现象增加

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) joint³ report was released Monday.

联合国儿童基金会以及世卫组织周一共同发布报告

The two agencies call for better regulation of junk food and a limit on sugary drinks for children.

两家组织呼吁限制儿童垃圾食品和糖分摄入量

They also call for action against malnutrition⁴. A lack of food has stunted⁵ children — or hurt their development – who live in poverty.

还呼吁解决儿童营养不良问题。那些家境贫困儿童患有营养不良，往往会影响儿童发育

The report says the costs of child malnutrition and obesity in Southeast Asia are great. These problems are seen in the middle-income countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

报告显示：在东南亚地区，营养不良儿童数量和营养过剩儿童数量都很多。这些问题主要发生在中等收入国家，例如印度尼西亚、马来西亚、菲律宾和泰国

In Indonesia, the report says, child malnutrition hurts child development and leads to diseases that cost $248 billion a year.

报告中说：印度尼西亚儿童患营养不良会影响正常发育，每年因治疗营养不良导致疾病需要花费2.48万亿美元

Dorothy Foote is a UNICEF regional nutritional⁶ specialist. She said the problems are a “burgeoning crisis”— or one that is growing. It covers both child nutrition and the general population, she said.

联合国儿童基金会地区营养学家Dorothy Foote：现在这些问题还不太严重，但是正在变得越来越严重。目前成人和儿童都在受到该问题威胁

“At UNICEF we are particularly concerned about children, but in general, we do have a crisis. That's going to affect not only families and communities but also governments and societies, that the costs of the ‘double burden' are tremendous,” Foote told VOA.

“我们联合国儿童基金会特别关注儿童健康。总体上来说，这的确是一个危机，不仅仅会影响家庭和社区还好影响政府和社会。如此造成的两头负担很重”

The report found that in most countries, there are equal amounts of overweight and under-nourished children. For example, in Indonesia, 12 percent of children are overweight, the same number as those who are malnourished.

报告中提到：大部分国家，儿童患营养过剩和营养不良的数量大致相当。例如，在印尼，有12%儿童超重，但是也有12%儿童营养不良

In Thailand, it says numbers are increasing with 7 percent of children malnourished and 11 percent overweight.

在泰国，儿童营养不良人数已经上升到7%，营养过剩人数上升到11%

Foote said there is still a “tremendous burden,” with lack of nutrition, “both chronic⁷ and acute.” That means the problem is ongoing⁸, and severe. The levels of stunting⁹ are very serious.

Dorothy Foote表示：现在营养不良问题还很严重，并且问题造成的影响是慢性又是巨大的。现在问题正在扩大并且变得越来越严重，营养不良儿童人数不容乐观

Laos has the highest number of stunted children, with 44 percent. High rates are also reported in Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia.

老挝儿童患营养不良人数最多，占了44%。此外，柬埔寨、缅甸、菲律宾和印尼人数也很多

The report says most of them — 12 million of the 17 million stunted children in Southeast Asia -- live in Indonesia and the Philippines.

报告中说：在1.2亿到1.7亿营养不良儿童大部分都位于东南亚，特别是印尼和菲律宾

Foote said the lack of food affects children's height and development inside their bodies. But at the same time, the area is facing “skyrocketing” levels of overweight children.

Dorothy Foote如果营养不良，就会影响孩子长高和身体发育。但同时，这些地区营养过剩儿童数量也在迅猛上升

The main reason for the food problems, the report says, is there is more “junk” food available, food that does not provide nutrition. Another problem is drinks with high sugar or high trans-fat, but low nutritional value.

主要原因出在食物上，因为孩子吃太多垃圾食品。还有就是喝太多高糖和含很多反式脂肪酸但是没有营养价值的饮料里

Lack of physical activity is also part of the problem, the report says.

缺乏体育锻炼也是导致问题原因

The agencies say these problems exist despite years of economic development. Southeast Asia is seen as a key economic driver for the world economy. But the gap, or distance, between rich and poor has grown.

尽管这些年经济有了发展，但是这些问题依然存在。东南亚国家作为拉动世界经济发展主力军，但是国家贫富差距还是很大

Foote said this is seen in nutrition across the area. She said people lack knowledge about what is needed and normal for healthy child development.

Dorothy Foote说：当地人不知道到底要给孩子提供什么营养食物。

The economic growth in the area has brought “unhealthy products” to rural areas. Poor and middle-class families buy them and do not make “the right choices to use healthier foods instead.” Poor feeding practices, especially for children younger than two, mean ongoing high levels of malnutrition.

经济发展给农村地区带去许多不健康产品。贫困和中等家庭喜欢购买垃圾食品，而不是健康食物。不好好给孩子准备食物，特别是家里有2个以上孩子的，往往很容易得上营养不良

The report says governments need to regulate the marketing¹⁰ of junk food and sugary drinks to children.

报告中说：政府需要现在给儿童的垃圾食品和高糖饮料

It also calls for better feeding practices for infants and young children, and treatment for severely¹¹ malnourished children. And it says countries should work to reduce poverty and make sure that girls stay in school.

因此给孩子提供更有营养的食物，给营养不良儿童提供治疗。还要提供贫困家庭生活水平，让女孩子接受教育

Words in This Story

malnutrition –n. unhealthy condition due to lack of proper food, nutrition, not eating enough of the right foods

stunted –v. someone or something stopped from growing or developing

burden –n. something or someone very difficult to accept, do or deal with

skyrocketing –idiom. moving up quickly, like a rocket climbs into the sky

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

5 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

6 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 stunting   

v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To report three-year-old twin brothers with speech stunting. 目的报道孪生兄弟同患语言发育迟缓的临床结果。 来自互联网
• No one should talk while stunting except coach or back spotter. 在技巧进行的过程中，只有教练或后保能说话。 来自互联网

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。