In Combating Obesity, a 12-Year-Old Leads by Example

In Combating Obesity¹, a 12-Year-Old Leads by Example

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

The number of overweight children in the U.S. is growing. That is the reason the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation created the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

Over the past 10 years, the Alliance has been coming up with creative ways to fight childhood obesity. One of these ways is inviting² young people to be part of the solution.

Twelve-year-old Jodi Evans has always been active. She loves to exercise and play sports ... including dancing.

"Dancing is a sport. Not everybody thinks it's a sport just because it's just … not in the Olympics. But it's something that keeps your heart rate going. It's something that requires a lot of energy. It’s something that requires eating healthy to have energy."

Jodi is on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Youth Advisory³ Board. The Alliance chose her for her healthy lifestyle and her involvement in sports.

"We have a group of young people, everything from an 8-year-old to 17-years-old all across the country. Jodi joined the Board when she was only eight. She was one of our youngest members at the time."

Megan McIntire is spokeswoman for the Alliance. She says the young people in the Alliance are sharing their viewpoint, or perspective, on how to fight childhood obesity.

"They all are raising their voice on this issue, and giving their perspective on how to combat childhood obesity. And on top of that they're making a difference in their own communities. They're running Local 5-K events or they’re talking to their school board about changing out school food in the cafeterias. Or they’re planning a school garden or they're talking to their state legislature about new policies they can pass. So, they are having tremendous impact all across the country on issues they care about and they choose how they really want to make an impact."

"Do you eat potatoes?!"

And, more importantly, the young Alliance members talk about making healthier food choices with their friends. Ms. McIntire says this is very important. Talking with friends will help to change the current shocking obesity numbers. Again, here is Ms. McIntire.

"One in three children (is) overweight or obese⁴. Some research out there suggests that this could be the first generation that doesn't outlive their parents. So it's an epidemic⁵. We're seeing some signs of the trends flattening⁶. But there still is extremely high prevalence of obesity in specific populations, so African American and Hispanics are disproportionally impacted by obesity issue."

Creating healthier school environments

The goal of the Alliance is to empower children to create healthier environments for themselves. Ms. McIntire says they are doing this by increasing physical activity throughout and after the school day. The young Alliance members are also bringing healthier food choices to where students eat and buy food – in the school cafeterias, vending⁷ machines and bake sales.   

"Our largest program is in the schools. We have a Healthy Schools Program. We're in 29,000 schools across the country. We're really changing the culture of what happens in that school environment – so, everything from are they having physical activities throughout the day, access to recess⁸ and physical education, what's served in the vending machines, what our kids are eating at school cafeterias, what are the fund raisers like, what are the bake sales like after school , can they healthy bake sales … "

June Evans is Jodi’s mom. She says serving on the Youth Advisory Board has helped her daughter learn about the issue of obesity. It has also helped her to develop important leadership skills.

"If she sees, you know, friends that are struggling in one area where they are not eating healthy or they're complaining about their body, or they’re complaining about their weight, she will step in and she’ll do it in a positive, quiet way."

Jodi's has a gentle, friendly approach. This makes it easy for Melissa Jackson and her other friends to listen to what she has to say.

"She told me that our body is a temple and we should take care of that temple by eating right, taking care of our body, exercising properly, not overdoing⁹ it too much."

Jodi’s term on the board ends this year. But she says she will always stay active. She also plans to continue to spread the message of staying active and eating healthy among her friends in school, in her neighborhood and everywhere.

Words in This Story

perspective – n. the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance

combat – v. to struggle against;

5-K – n. a long-distance road running competition over a distance of five kilometers or 3.1069 miles.

cafeteria – n. a place (such as a restaurant or a room in a school) where people get food at a counter and carry it to a table for eating

epidemic – n. a sudden quickly spreading occurrence of something harmful or unwanted

prevalence – n. the fact or condition of being common or widespread

vending machine – n. a machine that you put money into in order to buy food, drinks, etc.

bake sale – n. an event in which people try to earn money by selling baked foods (such as cookies and pies)

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 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

3 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

4 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。

5 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。

6 flattening   

n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词

参考例句：

• Flattening of the right atrial border is also seen in constrictive pericarditis. 右心房缘变平亦见于缩窄性心包炎。
• He busied his fingers with flattening the leaves of the book. 他手指忙着抚平书页。

7 vending   

v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明

参考例句：

• Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
• Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册

8 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

9 overdoing   

v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• He's been overdoing things recently. 近来他做事过分努力。 来自辞典例句
• You think I've been overdoing it with the work thing? 你认为我对工作的关注太过分了吗？ 来自电影对白