2006年VOA标准英语-American Battle With Obesity a Problem for

By Barry Newhouse
Washington
07 June 2006
 
watch Youth Obesity¹ report
 
  
  
Americans are known for having big appetites and serving oversized meals, but doctors worry about how those habits affect the population's health. The Centers for Disease control estimates nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States are classified as overweight, and doctors say the problem is also increasing abroad.

------------------------------------------------

  
  

Many blame the fast food industry. Each day millions of Americans flock to fast food restaurants for burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and of course french fries.

Physicians such as Dr. Joseph Afram, the head of George Washington University Hospital's Bariatric Surgery Center, say this high-calorie diet causes many Americans to gain weight. "Food is everywhere, and food is encouraged everywhere and high caloric food is encouraged everywhere, starting in childhood," said Dr. Afram. 

 
Dr. Joseph Afram
  
The CDC estimates nearly one out of every five American children is overweight. Researchers blame sugary snacks like sodas² and high-fat, high-protein diets. They also say kids spend long hours in front of the television and computer, so they're not burning all those extra calories.

During the last 15 years, the CDC says the percentage of obese³ American children and adults has grown. Many experts worry that as overweight kids become overweight adults, they will never learn how to maintain a healthy weight. 

Kari Tervo   
  
Kari Tervo is a 30-year-old member of the popular weight loss club called Weight Watchers. She said, "we all know that to lose weight you have to eat less and move more, but it's kind of nebulous. People don't have a structure. It's kind of like, 'what is eating less?'"

Kari Tervo joined Weight Watchers a few years ago, after she gained nearly 14 kilos while she was in graduate school. She says she was in denial about being overweight for some time. "You know, I'd be pulling on my pants, laying on the floor trying to struggle and I was like, 'oh, those just shrunk in the dryer,'" she said.

Kari said Weight Watchers taught her about monitoring her eating and getting regular exercise. She wears a pedometer to make sure she walks at least 10,000 steps each day. She has learned to cook at home instead of buying fast food. She said she keeps a close watch on what she's eating and how many calories it contains. "Weight Watchers taught me that I can eat whatever I want," she said. "I just have to watch how much of it I eat, and that I have to pay attention to nutrition."

Kari goes to her local Weight Watchers center each week to check on her weight-loss progress. She weighs herself, meets with a Weight Watchers staff member and celebrates when the news is good.

Weight Watchers members say the organization teaches people how to eat healthy for the rest of their lives, and not merely to diet when they are overweight.

But not everyone is able to maintain his or her proper weight through diet and exercise. The CDC says about five percent of Americans are what's called morbidly⁴ obese - that's 45 kilograms above their ideal weight. Many go to physicians like Dr. Afram in Washington, DC, for a surgical⁵ procedure on their digestive system called gastric⁶ bypass.

Dr. Afram said the procedure is major surgery and carries risks because of many patients' health problems. "Patients have high blood pressure, diabetes⁷, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, so they are already sick," he said.

Surgeons remove part of the patient's stomach and small intestine⁸. They reattach the shortened intestine to the stomach. This makes the stomach smaller, reducing the amount of food people can eat at one time.

Dr. Afram calls the surgery a "lifestyle operation" because it helps people to change the way they eat.

Jason Jones (r) before surgery  
  
Jason Jones is one of Dr. Afram's patients. He is a 22-year-old volunteer fireman in Bel Alton, Maryland, who had the surgery two years ago when he weighed nearly 300 kilograms.

"Right before I had the surgery, it had gotten to the point where - well, my life is for the fire department, and it had gotten to the point where I was scared to go into a house fire, because I didn't know what would happen," he said.

Jason Jones after surgery  
  
Jason's surgery was successful, but his recovery took longer than he thought it would. "It was rough," he said. "I went in on a Monday morning and thought I'd be out by Wednesday. Deer [hunting] season came in on Saturday, and I was thinking I'd be able to go out -- but that didn't happen."

Jason spent months recuperating⁹. But two years later, he says, he has lost almost 140 kilograms and now spends nearly all his time at the firehouse, where he goes out on more emergency calls than any other firefighter.

"Once I was healed, I was good to go - I was out," he said. "Back on the fire trucks, doing my thing."

While American doctors spend long hours trying to understand and counter the nation's obesity epidemic¹⁰, the growing global weight problem is less understood. Researchers estimate there are about one billion overweight adults worldwide, and the problem is even found in developing countries suffering from undernutrition.

Doctors worry that as changing diets and lifestyles expand waistlines around the world, America's current struggle with obesity could be the world's future

1 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。

2 sodas   

n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• There are plenty of sodas in the refrigerator. 冰箱里有很多碳酸饮料。 来自辞典例句
• Two whisky and sodas, please. 请来两杯威士忌苏打。 来自辞典例句

3 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

4 morbidly   

adv.病态地

参考例句：

• As a result, the mice became morbidly obese and diabetic. 结果，老鼠呈现为病态肥胖和糖尿病。 来自互联网
• He was morbidly fascinated by dead bodies. 他对尸体着魔到近乎病态的程度。 来自互联网

5 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

6 gastric   

adj.胃的

参考例句：

• Miners are a high risk group for certain types of gastric cancer.矿工是极易患某几种胃癌的高风险人群。
• That was how I got my gastric trouble.我的胃病就是这么得的。

7 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。

8 intestine   

adj.内部的；国内的；n.肠

参考例句：

• This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.这种维生素通过小肠壁被吸收。
• The service productivity is the function,including external efficiency,intestine efficiency and capacity efficiency.服务业的生产率是一个包含有外部效率、内部效率和能力效率的函数。

9 recuperating   

v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He's still recuperating from his operation. 他动了手术，还在恢复。
• He is recuperating from a serious back injury. 他背部受了重伤，目前正在康复中。 来自辞典例句

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。