VOA慢速英语 2008 0123a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

New research says thirty-five percent of all child deaths worldwide are caused by undernutrition -- hunger. The Lancet, the British medical magazine, just published a series of five studies. The answer, they suggest, is greater investment in nutritional¹ services and improvements to health systems.

severely2 undernourished boy in Maharashtra state, India, during a drought in 2001" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/080319/1326200.jpg" width="209" vspace="2" border="0" />

A 2-year-old severely undernourished boy in Maharashtra state, India, during a drought in 2001

The research involved poor to middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Robert Black from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland was the lead author of the series. He says more than three and one-half million mothers and children under five die in poor countries each year because of undernutrition.

He says more than two million children die from underdevelopment, either before or after birth, or from severe wasting. Millions of others who survive face a lifetime of disabilities or early death.

And the effects are not just physical. Poor brain development from poor nutrition can limit economic success as children become adults. Then the cycle of poverty and undernutrition often repeats for their children.

Doctor Black says undernourished children are also more likely to have conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes³ and heart disease as adults.

He says the studies show that nutrition programs need to place greater importance on the first two years of life. Undernourished children can suffer permanent damage by age two.

The researchers say mothers should be urged to breastfeed and taught how to breastfeed correctly. Also, diets should include foods rich in vitamin A and the mineral zinc⁴. The researchers say early interventions⁵ like these could reduce child deaths by twenty-five percent.

Undernutrition is one form of malnutrition⁶, but malnutrition can also mean eating too much.

The Lancet series on maternal⁷ and child nutrition has faced some criticism. The international group Doctors Without Borders praised the series for calling for greater attention to the issue. But the medical aid group says the researchers underestimate the number of child deaths from malnutrition.

And it criticized them for not strongly supporting new efforts to replace hospital care with community- and home-based care. This involves giving children nutritionally dense⁸ products called ready-to-use food. The researchers say there are findings that support this treatment but more studies are needed to compare it to hospital care.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁹. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

5 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

8 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。