VOA标准英语2008年-UN Health Agency Says Breastfeeding Can Save Ba

The World Health Organization says exclusive breastfeeding can save millions of infant lives every year. As World Breastfeeding Week gets underway, W.H.O. and its partners are promoting mother's milk as the best way to give babies a healthy start in life. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.

The World Health Organization recommends exclusively breastfeeding babies until they are six months of age. And it says continued breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond will greatly reduce child deaths caused by infection and malnutrition¹ in developing countries.

WHO estimates 3.5 million children die every year of malnutrition. It says up to 1.5 million children could be saved by increasing breastfeeding.

Maria del Carmen Casanovas is a Technical Officer in WHO's Department for Nutrition for Health and Development. She tells VOA mother's milk contains important nutrients², vitamins and minerals that are found nowhere else. And these provide immunities³ against a host of infections and diseases.

"It defends the baby against all the potential microbia that can affect him," she said. "So, that is why the child will have less episodes of diarrhea, will have less experiences with respiratory infections and also less likely to die because of common childhood illnesses, especially diarrhea and pneumonia⁴."

The World Health Organization acknowledges that breastfeeding may not be appropriate in all cases. For instance, if a mother is HIV-positive, she could transmit the disease to her baby through breast-feeding.

But Doctor Casanovas says WHO believes that in many places where HIV is prevalent, it still might be better for mothers to choose breastfeeding over formula milk.

"If the mother is positive, that mother needs to take an individual decision. We cannot tell the mother there is not one size fits all," she said. "According to the environment, the risk may be...of the baby dying because of other illnesses, other infectious diseases might be a lot higher than the risk of becoming HIV-positive and of dying because of the HIV."

For example, many developing countries do not have safe water and mixing contaminated water with powdered formula is a common cause of death among infants.

WHO says mother's milk is best everywhere in the world, in rich and poor countries alike. New studies show breastfeeding can protect children against chronic⁵ diseases later in life. Breast fed babies are at lower risk of getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol⁶, of becoming obese⁷ and of developing type 2 diabetes⁸.

 

 

1 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。

2 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 immunities   

免除，豁免( immunity的名词复数 )； 免疫力

参考例句：

• Supplying nutrients and immunities to my baby? 为我的宝贝提供营养物质和免疫物质？
• And these provide immunities against the a host of infections and diseases. 这些物质可提高婴儿的免疫力，使之免受病毒感染和疾病侵袭。

4 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

7 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。

8 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。