【英语时差8,16】电视和肥胖!

 American kids are becoming obese¹ in record numbers. Besides easy access to junk food and not enough emphasis put on exercise in school and at home, a report issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests another major culprit: media. The report states the case bluntly: there's a good chance that the more time a kid spends watching TV, the more likely he or she is to be overweight.  Clearly, not all kids who watch a lot of TV are fat or will become fat. And some studies haven't found a significant correlation². But many reports strongly suggest that TV and obesity³ go hand in hand. And not because TV watching takes the place of playing outside or other kinds of exercise. Rather, TV exposes kids to an onslaught of ads for junk food.

According to studies cited in the report, the typical kid sees around forty thousand TV commercials per year. The majority of ads targeted to kids, studies find, are for candy, sugar cereals, soda⁴, and fast food. Plus, many ads use popular cartoon characters and sports stars to peddle⁵ their wares⁶, from Spiderman cereal to Bart Simpson candy bars.

Junk food ads don't force kids to eat more, of course, but many studies conclude that such ads have a huge impact on kids' desires. The more kids see Shaquille O'Neal wolf down a Whopper, the more desirable it begins to seem.

So what can be done? Aside from encouraging parents to curb⁷ their kids' television habits, the report urges media companies to reduce junk food ads targeted at children and build messages about healthy eating into TV programs.  

1 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。

2 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

3 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。

4 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

5 peddle   

vt.(沿街)叫卖，兜售；宣传，散播

参考例句：

• She loves to peddle gossip round the village.她喜欢在村里到处说闲话。
• Street vendors peddle their goods along the sidewalk.街头摊贩沿著人行道兜售他们的商品。

6 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。