2007年VOA标准英语-Alarming Number of Obese Children Worldwide May

By Melinda Smith
Washington, DC
08 January 2007
 
watch Childhood Obesity¹ report

The World Health Organization reports that at least one and a half billion adults are overweight and approximately 400 million are obese².  What may be even more shocking is that millions of children are already considered too fat.   VOA's Melinda Smith reports on two studies of American children that may reflect a disturbing global trend.

It's no secret that too many adults around the world are overweight.  But when 20 million children under the age of five are considered too fat, researchers worry about the risk of chronic³ illness as these kids grow older.

Now research of at least 3,600 children in North America shows that poor eating habits and lack of exercise are producing risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol⁴ and diabetes⁵.  To make matters worse, tests on some of these kids indicated narrowing and hardening of the arteries⁶.  That is a condition normally associated with adults.

 

There are also indications that a family's eating habits may play a role in childhood obesity.  Scientists at the University of Wisconsin studied at least 2,000 low-income children under the age of three and found something surprising. The children were from Hispanic, African American and Caucasian groups.  By measuring the height and weight of each child, results showed that Hispanic children up to age three were twice as likely to be overweight or obese, than black and white youngsters of the same age group. The researchers were unable to explain the connection between racial background and being overweight.

What they discovered was that kids with overweight parents had twice the risk of being heavy themselves, and babies who were breast-fed for at least six months after birth had better odds⁷ of staying within normal weight range.

NOTE: "Racial and Ethnic⁸ Differentials in Children's Overweight and Obesity Among Three Year Olds" will be published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

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 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。

4 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。