VOA慢速英语2021 美国儿童肥胖人数在大流行期间增加

A new study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a large increase in obesity¹ in American children and teenagers.

一项新的研究发现，新冠大流行导致美国儿童和青少年肥胖人数大幅增加。

Childhood obesity has been increasing for many years.

多年来，儿童肥胖人数一直在增加。

The new study suggests that the rate of obesity quickened even more last year, especially among those who already were obese² when the pandemic started.

这项新的研究表明，去年肥胖率增长得更快，尤其是在那些在大流行开始时就已经发胖的人群中。

The results signal a "profound increase in weight gain for kids" and are very concerning, said Doctor Alyson Goodman.

艾莉森·古德曼医生说，这一结果表明“儿童体重的大幅增加”，令人非常担忧。

She is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one of the authors of the study.

她在美国疾病控制与预防中心工作，是这项研究的作者之一。

The pandemic appears to be making the nation's obesity epidemic³ worse.

这次大流行似乎使该国的肥胖流行病变得更加严重。

Obesity can put people at risk for heart disease and high blood pressure.

肥胖会使人们有患心脏病和高血压的风险。

Overweight people are also at higher risk for severe coronavirus infection.

超重的人感染严重冠状病毒的风险也更高。

The CDC on Thursday released the study, which is the largest yet to look at obesity during the pandemic.

美国疾病控制与预防中心周四发布了这项研究，这是迄今为止对大流行期间的肥胖问题进行的最大规模的研究。

It found that about 22 percent of children and teenagers were obese last August.

该研究发现，去年8月，大约22%的儿童和青少年患有肥胖症。

That is up from 19 percent from the year before.

这比前一年的19%有所上升。

Before the pandemic, children who were a healthy weight gained an average of 1.5 kilograms a year.

在大流行之前，体重健康的儿童平均每年增加1.5公斤。

That rose to 2.4 kilograms during the pandemic.

在大流行期间，这一数字上升到2.4公斤。

And for severely⁴ obese kids, expected yearly weight gain went from 4 kilograms to 6.6 kilograms.

对于严重肥胖的儿童，预计每年的体重增加从4公斤增加到6.6公斤。

The rate of obesity increased the highest in ages 6 to 11.

肥胖率在6至11岁的人群中上升幅度最大。

Younger children are more dependent on their parents and may have been more effected when schools stopped in-person classes, the researchers said.

研究人员说，年龄较小的孩子更依赖父母，学校停止面对面授课可能对他们的影响更大。

The research was based on an examination of medical records of more than 432,000 kids and teens, ages 2 to 19.

这项研究是基于对超过43.2万名2至19岁的儿童和青少年的医疗记录的检查。

They were weighed and measured at least twice before the pandemic and at least once early in the pandemic.

在大流行之前，他们至少被称重和测量了两次，在大流行早期，他们至少被称重和测量了一次。

There were some limits to the study.

这项研究有一些局限性。

It only included children who received medical care before and during the pandemic, the researchers said.

研究人员说，它只包括在大流行之前和大流行期间接受过医疗护理的儿童。

It also did not look at the differences in weight gain between racial and ethnic⁵ groups.

它也没有研究不同种族和民族之间体重增加的差异。

Earlier this week, the CDC said there are now 16 states where at least 35 percent of the population is obese.

本周早些时候，美国疾病控制与预防中心表示，目前有16个州至少有35%的人口肥胖。

Most are in the southern part of the country.

大多数都在该国的南部。

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 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。