美国国家公共电台 NPR--The White House is hosting a conference on nutrition and hunger

The White House is hosting a conference on nutrition and hunger

Transcript¹

The White House is convening² a day-long conference this week to review new proposals for tackling food insecurity and diet-related chronic³ disease.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The White House is hosting a daylong conference on nutrition and hunger this week. This comes at a time when diet-related chronic disease is a top cause of death in this country. NPR's Allison Aubrey is with us this morning to talk about the ideas on the table to combat that fact. Allison, good morning.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So it became clear during the pandemic that people with chronic diseases, including diabetes⁵ and heart disease, they have worse outcomes from COVID, right? Let's talk about the role that diet plays.

AUBREY: That's right. Yeah, well, what we eat plays a key role, Rachel. It's really a root cause of disease or can be. Researchers estimate that nearly 900 people die every day in the U.S. from diet-related heart disease, for example. And millions more are at high risk. Consider diabetes. About one out of every three adults in the U.S. has prediabetes. That's nearly a hundred million people. That's on top of the people diagnosed with the condition. I spoke⁶ to Bruce Caldwell (ph). He's 59 years old. He lives in Rhode Island. He had developed Type 2 diabetes. And he told me, two years ago, his blood sugar had risen so high, he was taking multiple medications every day and was feeling lousy.

BRUCE CALDWELL: I really thought the only process was to, unfortunately, increase medication. I knew that my next step, my PCP told me, was going to be doing some daily insulin shots. That was really the scary point to me.

AUBREY: His doctors told him that a combination of his genes⁷, his weight and, really, his eating habits had led to the condition. We heard him say there it's scary. That's because people with poorly controlled diabetes are at high risk of so many things - kidney disease, nerve damage, eye damage - and at a much higher risk of disability.

MARTIN: So what happened? Did he end up taking more medication?

AUBREY: What he did next really fits with a key theme heading into the White House conference this week, and that is to integrate food and nutrition into the practice of medicine, to really think as - to think of food as medicine. That's what Bruce Caldwell did, actually. He completely overhauled⁹ his diet. He cut out refined carbohydrates¹⁰ - so white bread, pasta, sugar - began eating more protein, more healthy fats. And over the last year and a half, he's lost 55 pounds. And the mic drop here, his diabetes was reversed.

MARTIN: Wow.

AUBREY: His blood sugar is now in the normal, healthy range.

CALDWELL: It feels so good. The way I like to put it is I didn't know how bad I felt until I felt better.

MARTIN: That's amazing. That's great for him. So is he healthy enough now that he doesn't have to take any medication?

AUBREY: He no longer requires any diabetes medicine. And the way he got started on this, Rachel, is his employer paid for a program called Virta that was offered through Virta Health. It's designed to reverse diabetes and with diet and exercise. He told me, to his great surprise, it really worked.

CALDWELL: Food can be the medicine. Just by eating, knowing what to eat and what not to eat, I continue to feel better. And I have an - all around, a lot more energy.

AUBREY: The immediate¹¹ financial benefit, he says, is he no longer has to pay for all these medicines each month. The long-term benefit, preventing all the diseases linked to diabetes. Now, of course, this took a lot of effort on his part. It's not easy to overhaul⁸ your diet. But it's been transformative for him. So one conversation on the table this week at the White House conference is how best to make these kinds of lifestyle-based programs accessible to more people.

MARTIN: So what's the answer to that? I mean, is it reasonable to expect that more people like Bruce are going to be helped by whatever comes out of this conference?

AUBREY: You know, I think that there's momentum¹² to tackle food-related chronic disease. And this will be a focus at the conference on Wednesday because there's now a lot of evidence that this very strategy that Mr. Caldwell used could be helpful to many people. Here's Dariush Mozaffarian. He's a heart doctor and a dean at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University. He says there are many studies to show that a combination of diet, exercise, weight loss works to reverse or stop the progression of diabetes.

DARIUSH MOZAFFARIAN: Food is a direct and very rapid treatment for very complex diseases. And with a good diet and weight loss, diabetes can be put into remission. And many, many patients can go off their medications.

AUBREY: At a time when it costs the U.S. health care system more than $240 billion a year to treat diabetes, Dr. Mozaffarian and many other physicians and public health experts, who will weigh in at the White House conference on Wednesday, say now is the time to invest more in prevention.

MARTIN: Can we talk a little bit more about that, prevention? Where do efforts stand to prevent diseases like diabetes before they start?

AUBREY: Yeah, well, this will be a focus on Wednesday. The recommendation coming from many physicians and food security experts is this - one thing to do is to make school meals universally free for all children across the country. I think people assume that in 2022, obesity¹³ is a bigger problem than malnutrition¹⁴ or lack of food. The reality is that food insecurity, the inability to afford high-quality food, really drives obesity.

MARTIN: Right.

AUBREY: These two problems overlap¹⁵. They're linked. They're one in the same. People fill their bellies¹⁶ with cheap food. They gain weight. And that drives the risk of chronic disease. I spoke to chef Jose Andres. He's well-known for delivering food aid during hurricanes and Ukraine. The idea he's taking to the White House is, don't just provide free meals for children. Build local economies around these free meals by buying food from local farmers, employing workers in local communities to prepare healthy meals in schools.

JOSE ANDRES: That dollar to feed the children is also giving infrastructure¹⁷ a boost. Money goes to buy from rural farmers. Those women and men that they train, they make good, living wage. All of a sudden, $1 is multiplied by four. We don't have that in place, and we should.

AUBREY: He says investing in healthy food for children has so many potential benefits. In the immediate term, it reduces absenteeism, makes kids more ready to learn. And in the long term, the hope is that this can - that food-related disease can be prevented.

MARTIN: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Aubrey - Aubrey - Allison, thank you. This was a really interesting conversation. We appreciate it.

AUBREY: Thank you, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE ALBUM LEAF'S "STRETCHED HOME")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 convening   

召开( convene的现在分词 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without sounding an alarm. 民10:7但招聚会众的时候、们要吹号、不要吹出大声。
• We warmly welcome the convening of Asia-Europe meeting in London. 热烈欢迎亚欧会议在伦敦召开。

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

8 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

9 overhauled   

v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• Within a year the party had drastically overhauled its structure. 一年内这个政党已大刀阔斧地整顿了结构。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A mechanic overhauled the car's motor with some new parts. 一个修理工对那辆汽车的发动机进行了彻底的检修，换了一些新部件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

13 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。

14 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。

15 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

16 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

17 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。