VOA常速英语2007年-Africa Assistance Workers Report Ready-to-Eat F

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi, Kenya
10 December 2007
 

Many medical aid workers in countries facing nutritional¹ emergencies extol² the virtues³ of ready-to-eat foods. A nutrition specialist for Doctors Without Borders reported such therapeutic⁴ foods were used to prevent and treat malnutrition⁵ in children during a 2005 food crisis in Niger. Others say the relatively⁶ high price of ready-to-eat foods makes their use inefficient⁷, endorsing⁸ instead the usual practice of distributing food rations⁹ that must be cooked or mixed with water. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA.

At the Blue House Clinic in Nairobi, Judy Muchina and her son collect their supply of a nutritional supplement by the trade name Plumpy Nut.

Three-year-old Charles is HIV-positive and also suffers from tuberculosis¹⁰. Doctors in the clinic prescribed Plumpy Nut to make Charles stronger and healthier. His mother, Judy, says the food supplement is working. "Initially¹¹, Charles weighed 7.3 kilos. Now, after three months of taking Plumpy Nut, he has gained weight and is now 8.5 kilos," she said.

Plumpy Nut is a sweet paste that has the look and texture¹² of peanut butter. Enriched with essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients¹³, it can be eaten directly or blended in with food.

Plumpy Nut is one of several therapeutic supplements known as ready-to-eat foods. They do not have to be cooked or mixed with water to be eaten.

The medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) distributes containers of Plumpy Nut to more than 60,000 children age 3 and under in communities at risk of malnutrition in Niger.

Dr. Susan Shepherd is the former medical coordinator¹⁴ for Doctors Without Borders in Niger. She says her agency's pilot project in Niger has seen encouraging results. "Moms tell us that their kids are eating better, that they are healthier," she said.  "They are having to go to the clinic less often for everyday illness that you see in Niger - pneumonias, colds, diarrhea - that their kids overall are doing much better."

She explains that with the ready-to-eat foods, mothers can be put in complete control of their malnourished children's treatment. Otherwise, many children would have to stay in hospitals up to a month to be fed therapeutic milk products.

It is this success that prompted Doctors Without Borders in mid-October to issue a statement calling for donors¹⁵, governments, aid agencies and others to more widely distribute ready-to-eat foods.

The agency stated the foods would prevent child malnutrition rather than be restricted only to those already severely¹⁶ malnourished.

Agencies such as the World Food Program provide children with a corn-soya blend (CSB), to prevent and treat moderate malnutrition.

The more traditional food rations, which must be mixed with water, are distributed at feeding centers.

Peter Smerdon is spokesman for the World Food Program in Nairobi, Kenya. He says that it costs 8 euros to treat one severely malnourished child with corn-soya blend as compared to 15 Euros with ready-to-use foods. "It's mainly a question of the funding," he said. "Is the funding there? The World Food Program will feed some 90 million people across the world this year, so we're talking huge numbers if there is a big cost difference to what we are already doing. We need to work out where that balance lies."

Smerdon says World Food Program donors are already stretched to the limit because of rising cereal and fuel costs, making them less likely to fund the relatively expensive ready-to-eat foods.

1 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。

2 extol   

v.赞美，颂扬

参考例句：

• We of the younger generation extol the wisdom of the great leader and educator.我们年轻一代崇拜那位伟大的引路人和教育家的智慧。
• Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 我要天天称颂你，也要永永远远赞美你的名。

3 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

4 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

5 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。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

8 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

9 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

10 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

12 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

13 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

15 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。