VOA标准英语2010年-Early Nutrition Key to Reducing Povert

A new report highlights a brief period of early childhood as the most critical time to fight hunger -- and also reduce poverty.

The 2010 Global Hunger Index report was released Monday by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It notes that, in recent years, experts have concluded that undernourishment between conception and a child's second birthday can have serious and long-lasting impacts.

 

Children who are undernourished during this approximately 1,000-day window can be physically¹ stunted², and they are more likely to get sick and die than well-fed children. Preventing hunger allows children to develop both physically and mentally.

"They will be more likely to perform well in school," says IFPRI's Marie Ruel. "They will stay in school longer. And then at adulthood³, IFPRI has actually demonstrated that children that were better nourished have higher wages, by a pretty large number, by 46 percent."

That means the productivity of a nation's future generations depends in a large part on the first 1,000 days of life, Ruel adds.

"This is why we're all on board on focusing on those thousand days to improve nutrition," she says. "After that, the damage is done and is highly irreversible."

The data on nutrition and childhood development has been slowly coming together for decades. But Ruel says scientific consensus⁴ alone will not solve the problem.

"It's not enough that nutritionists know you have to intervene then, if we don't have the politicians on board," she says, "and also the...people that implement⁵ [programs] in the field."

Ruel says there are encouraging signs that politicians and implementers are beginning to get on board. Many major donors⁶ and the United Nations are targeting hunger-relief programs at pregnant women and young children. They focus on improving diets or providing micronutrient supplements. They improve access to prenatal care and encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life.

Ruel says in the 1980s Thailand was able to reduce child undernourishment by recruiting a large number of volunteers to travel the countryside teaching about health and nutrition.

"They really did very active promotion⁷ of diversity in the diet and good eating habits," she says. "So they were providing more food to people, but also educating people on how to use them, and also educating people on how to feed their young children."

Ruel says countries may take different approaches to reducing child undernutrition. But she says nations will not make progress fighting hunger and poverty until they begin to focus on those critical first thousand days.
 

1 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

2 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。

3 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 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》

7 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。