VOA标准英语2012--Study: Uneven Progress in Child Nutrition

 

Study: Uneven¹ Progress in Child Nutrition

A new study estimates fewer than half of developing countries are likely to reach the Millennium² Development Goal to reduce child hunger. It says about 110 million children worldwide are moderately or severely³ underweight, while nearly 150 million others are mildly underweight.

The study is based on an analysis of many national surveys and other research going back decades.

“We are aware that children’s nutritional⁴ status is quite important for their overall health and mortality," said Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London, who led the effort. "In some sense it’s arguably the very best single indicator⁵ of how well-nourished children are holistically⁶. So we wanted to see what has happened in all the countries in the world over the past few decades. We collected all of the available data that we could to look at these trends and to see who is doing well and who is not doing as well in terms of improving children’s nutrition.”

The study also included researchers from the World Health Organization and U.S. universities.

Ezzati said children’s nutritional status can vary greatly by region.

"There have been incredible improvements in Asia and Latin America, especially. And much of the southern part of Latin America and much of East and Southeast Asia have managed to get malnutrition⁷ to very low levels. South Asia has done quite well in terms of trends, but it started off so badly that it still needs to do a lot more," he said.

And then there’s sub-Saharan Africa.

"Things unfortunately actually seem to have gotten worse in many of the countries for well over a decade before getting better slowly. So in some sense sub-Saharan Africa is not much further now than it was two and a half decades ago in terms of children’s nutrition. Some countries have done well, but overall the continent hasn’t done as well," he said.

Professor Ezzati said it’s difficult to know precisely⁸ why sub-Saharan Africa has lagged in progress. But there are clues.

"One should strongly suspect that there was a role for a series of policies that were happening in the late 80s and early part of [the] 1990s in relation to trade liberalization – in relation to actually reducing government spending and aid spending on things like agriculture, overall nutrition, overall distribution of food and health services to the poorest households," he said.

He said 61 of the 141 developing countries analyzed⁹ have a greater than 50 percent chance of reaching the 2015 goal on reducing child hunger.

"But," he said, "this means that the other 80 countries have less than a 50 percent chance. They can make it if things go really well for the next three or four years, but they won’t otherwise."

Among the countries doing very well are Chile and China. Even in sub-Saharan Africa there are some standouts, including Ghana, Angola and Botswana.

Researchers generally use height and weight measurements to determine children’s nutritional status. There can be long-term consequences for kids who are malnourished or undernourished.

Ezzati said, "There are studies that have actually found that children who were undernourished early in life do worse in school. And then increasingly we are learning it may actually even affect the chronic¹⁰ diseases later in life. They may have a higher risk of diabetes¹¹ or cardiovascular disease – very long-term effects on every aspect of their life."

Ezzati said the Millennium Development Goals helped create motivation to solve child hunger and other issues. He added there’s evidence that "child nutrition is best improved through equitable¹² economic growth, investment in smallholder farms, primary health care and programs targeted at the poor."

1 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

2 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

3 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。

4 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。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 holistically   

adv.holistic（整体的，全盘的）的副词形式

参考例句：

• Menu items and dialogs, when they are translated, to be considered holistically. 在翻译菜单项和对话框时，需要全盘考虑，确保翻译的界面保持整体的一致性很重要。 来自互联网
• If we examine this entity holistically, we can discover how incredible it really is. 如果我们整体检查这实体，我们可以发现它真的是多么让人难以置信。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 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。

12 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。