VOA标准英语2011--Malnutrition Devastates Horn of Africa D

Malnutrition¹ Devastates² Horn of Africa Drought Areas

Malnutrition rates are skyrocketing in certain areas of the Horn of Africa, which is experiencing the worst drought in decades. To treat malnutrition, aid workers choose from an array of powders, pastes, biscuits and other supplements loaded with micro-nutrients³, depending on the recipient’s circumstances.
Lokor Locmel is three years old. But her shrunken face, stick-thin limbs, and weak cry make her seem like a child half her age. She weighs almost 5.6 kilograms, but should be at least double that weight, at 11.5 kilograms.
Lokor is registered in the out-patient program at Makutano Clinic, in a village about an hour’s drive from the northern Kenyan town of Kakuma. The clinic, which serves a population of 8,500 people, has seen a dramatic spike⁴ in malnutrition as the drought rages on. In January, the clinic had 21 cases of severe malnutrition; in July, there were 68 cases.
Nutritional⁵ foods are ready to eat
In the out-patient therapy program, Lokor receives 45 grams a week of a peanut paste fortified⁶ with a range of micro-nutrients such as vitamins, calcium⁷, potassium, and folic acid. There are several types of paste. The one Lokor uses is called Plumpy’Nut.
Head nurse Jimmy Loree is Lokor’s caregiver. He said Plumpy’Nut is doing its job.
“Swelling of the legs, the hands, has gone. She is not looking like an old man, but now she looks shiny. And the weight also is increasing, meaning there is some good improvement in the child,” said Loree.
Plumpy’Nut and other pastes fall under a category called “ready-to-eat foods.” These are specialized⁸ therapeutic⁹ foods containing vegetable fats, dry skimmed milk and other ingredients. They are used primarily in emergency operations to prevent or treat moderate to severe malnutrition in children and to produce the greatest weight gain in the shortest time.
Packed with micronutrients, calories
Severely¹¹ malnourished children and adults also are admitted to the hospital and are given intensive nutritional treatments, such as drips and milk. Another type of emergency food is high-energy biscuits.
“Fortified biscuits are also used as a ready-to-eat food that is high in nutrients and calories, and that is for people who are moving or who do not have the ability to be able to cook, then this is a very important kind of product for immediate¹² nutritional support,” explains World Food Program spokeswoman Challis McDonough.
Other products available are compressed food bars and micronutrient powder that is sprinkled on food.
Hospitals, aid workers scramble¹³ to help
Stable populations not facing an immediate emergency situation receive supplementary¹⁴ rations¹⁰ from the “fortified blended foods” category. These are powders that are mixed with oil and water and cooked as porridge. They also contain a host of micronutrients, and are used mainly in supplementary feeding and mother and child health programs.
It is distribution day at Kakuma Mission Hospital, which happens twice a month. More than 300 women and their children line up under a hot sun to receive cooking oil and a supplement known as Corn-Soya Blend.
Thomas Ekai, the administrator¹⁵ of Kakuma Mission Hospital, said, "The normal ratio per month is actually 7.5 kilograms [16.5 pounds] and the oil is 0.75 [kilograms], so it is one-tenth of the other food. That is what they are given if they are found to be malnourished and they do the OTP [out-patient therapy] there. That means they get the food and they go home. It is done twice a month and it is mixed here. They go with the food mixed - they may not actually go there and do the mixing as required. ”
Kakuma Mission Hospital, and most other health-care facilities and food distribution sites, get their rations and therapeutic nutritional treatments from the U.N.’s World Food Program. Once WFP delivers the food aid to the site, aid agencies typically distribute the food.
Fighting starvation
To determine who is malnourished, health-care professionals follow a number of procedures, including measuring the thickness of the upper-arm, comparing someone’s weight with their height, and looking at an area’s overall food security situation. Those eligible¹⁶ for food aid are then registered and monitored, so that they can begin their long journey back to health.
Some 12 million people in the Horn of Africa face hunger and starvation due to the drought that has ravaged¹⁷ the region over the past several months.
The nomadic¹⁸ herders of Kenya’s Turkana districts have been hit particularly hard. Some 30 percent of households in the area rely on food aid to survive, while at least half of the households consume only one meal a day. Almost half of Turkana’s children are moderately or severely malnourished, and in need of life-saving emergency nutrition services.

1 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。

2 devastates   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的第三人称单数 )；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮

参考例句：

• Strip mining devastates whole regions, leaving bare and useless ground. 露天矿产毁坏全部区域，离开赤裸和无用的地面。 来自互联网
• Prostitution is a profession that devastates the lives of young women. 雏妓这个职业是对女孩子极度的摧残。 来自互联网

3 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》

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 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。

6 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

7 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

8 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

9 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。

10 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。

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。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

14 supplementary   

adj.补充的，附加的

参考例句：

• There is a supplementary water supply in case the rain supply fails.万一主水源断了，我们另外有供水的地方。
• A supplementary volume has been published containing the index.附有索引的增补卷已经出版。

15 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

16 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

17 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

18 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。