VOA健康报道2024 研究称美国儿童肥胖率正在上升（在线收听）

研究称美国儿童肥胖率正在上升

　　A new study adds to evidence that obesity is becoming more common in young children in America.

　　一项新的研究进一步证明，肥胖在美国幼儿中变得越来越普遍。

　　The study appeared in the medical publication Pediatrics.

　　这篇研究论文发表在医学刊物《儿科学》上。

　　The findings are similar to other national data, which suggests around 2.5 percent of all preschool-aged children were severely obese during the same period.

　　这一研究结论与其他国家的数据相似，数据表明，在同一时期，约2.5%的学龄前儿童严重肥胖。

　　One of the study's writers, Heidi Blanck of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "We were doing well and now we see this upward trend....We are dismayed at seeing these findings."

　　这篇研究论文的作者之一，美国疾病控制与预防中心的海蒂·布兰克说：“我们以前保持得很好，现在我们看到了上升的趋势……我们对这些发现感到沮丧。”

　　Dismayed is a term that means very worried or disappointed.

　　Dismayed的意思是非常担心或失望。

　　The study looked at children ages 2 to 4 who took part in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

　　该研究调查了参加妇女婴儿与儿童特别营养补充项目的2至4岁的儿童。

　　The program gives healthy foods and other services to preschool-aged children in low-income families.

　　该项目为低收入家庭的学龄前儿童提供健康食品和其他服务。

　　The children were weighed and measured.

　　参加该项目的孩子们称了体重，量了尺寸。

　　The researchers found that 2.1 percent of kids in the program were severely obese in 2010.

　　研究人员发现，2010年，该项目中有2.1%的儿童严重肥胖。

　　Six years later, the rate had dropped to 1.8 percent.

　　六年后，这一比例降至1.8%。

　　But by 2020, it was 2 percent.

　　但到了2020年，这一比例为2%。

　　That amounts to about 33,000 of more than 1.6 million kids in the WIC program.

　　也就是在妇女婴儿与儿童特别营养补充项目中的160多万名儿童中，大约有3.3万名儿童严重肥胖。

　　The study showed major increases in 20 states.

　　该研究显示，在20个州，这一比例大幅上升。

　　California's was the highest at 2.8 percent.

　　加利福尼亚州的儿童肥胖率最高，为2.8%。

　　There also were large increases in some racial and ethnic groups.

　　在一些种族和族裔群体中儿童肥胖率也有大幅增长。

　　The highest rate, about 2.8 percent, was among Hispanic children.

　　拉美裔儿童的肥胖率最高，约为2.8%。

　　Experts say severe obesity at a very early age is nearly irreversible – meaning the damage is nearly impossible to undo.

　　专家称，在很小的时候严重肥胖几乎是不可逆的，这意味着这种伤害几乎是不可能消除的。

　　Severe obesity is strongly linked with health problems and an early death.

　　严重肥胖与健康问题和过早死亡密切相关。

　　It is not clear why the increase occurred, Blanck said.

　　布兰克说，目前还不清楚儿童肥胖率增长的原因。

　　When WIC obesity rates dropped, some experts suggested 2009 policy changes might be responsible.

　　当参加妇女婴儿与儿童特别营养补充项目的儿童的肥胖率下降时，一些专家表示，2009年的政策变化可能是原因之一。

　　Those changes took out juice from infant food packages, provided less saturated fat, and tried to make it easier for people to buy fruits and vegetables.

　　变化内容包括去掉婴儿食品中的果汁，提供了较少的饱和脂肪，并试图让人们更容易购买水果和蔬菜。

　　The package has not changed.

　　这套方案并没有改变。

　　But "the daily hardships that families living in poverty are facing may be harder today than they were 10 years ago, and the slight increases in the WIC package just weren't enough," said Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a Duke University childhood obesity researcher.

　　但杜克大学儿童肥胖研究人员萨拉·阿姆斯特朗博士说，“如今，生活贫困的家庭面临的日常困难可能比10年前更加严重，而参加妇女婴儿与儿童特别营养补充项目的儿童的肥胖率小幅上升是不足以得出正确结论的。”

　　The researchers faced difficulties.

　　研究人员面临着困难。

　　The number of kids in WIC declined in the past ten years.

　　在过去的十年里，参加妇女婴儿与儿童特别营养补充项目的儿童数量有所下降。

　　And the study included 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

　　这项研究包括了2020年（即新冠疫情爆发的那一年）的数据。

　　At the time, fewer parents brought their children in to see doctors.

　　当时，很少有家长带孩子来看医生。

　　That reduced the amount of complete information available.

　　这减少了可用的完整信息的数量。

　　Despite its limitations, it was a "very well done study," said Deanna Hoelscher, a childhood obesity researcher at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.

　　得克萨斯大学休斯顿公共卫生学院的儿童肥胖研究员迪安娜·霍尔舍说，尽管它有局限性，但这是一项“非常好的研究”。

　　She added, "It gives you a hint of what's going on."

　　她补充说，“它给你提供了一条线索，让你知道发生了什么。”

　　What has happened since 2020 is not yet known.

　　自2020年以来发生了什么尚不清楚。

　　Some small studies have suggested an increase in childhood obesity — especially during the pandemic.

　　一些小规模的研究表明，儿童肥胖率在上升，尤其是在疫情期间。

　　During the pandemic, kids were kept home from schools.

　　在疫情期间，孩子们被关在家里，不能上学。

　　Their eating and bedtime schedules were changed and physical activity decreased.

　　他们的进食和就寝时间发生了变化，体力活动减少。

　　"We are thinking it's going to get worse," Hoelscher said.

　　霍尔舍说：“我们认为情况会变得更糟”。