密歇根新闻广播 青春期的食物不安全与高风险的性行为有关

 

Think for a moment of a teenager's appetite. Immediately, jokes about a bottomless pit come to mind.

That appetite has a purpose — it's fueled by the burst in growth and development happening to that teen. But what happens when teens don't have access to a stable food source?

Sharon Kukla-Acevedo, an associate professor of public administration at Central Michigan University, has been doing research on just that. She joined Stateside to talk to us about her latest research on the effect of food insecurity during adolescence¹.

Food insecurity during childhood has been well-documented, said Kukla-Acevedo, but researchers are finding it also has significant consequences for adolescents. One surprising finding is that hunger during the teen years is associated with riskier² sexual behavior.

"There is an association with the number of children that that individual has if the felt that food insecurity during their adolescent years," explained Kukla-Acevedo.

To hear more about the effect of hunger on teenagers, and why teenagers are sometimes more susceptible³ to hunger than younger siblings⁴, listen above.

1 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

2 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

3 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

4 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分