VOA标准英语2011--New York City Battles Childhood Obesity

New York City Battles Childhood Obesity¹

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States says every third adult and nearly every fifth child in America is obese². But health officials in New York are touting³ an aggressive initiative that has resulted in a significant drop in the city's childhood obesity rates.

Alex Schimke is a trim and fit New York sixth grader. He says he likes fruits, particularly strawberries. But like most children, he admits a taste for candy, cakes and other sweets.

"Are you going to eat the cake or the apple for health? Obviously, you're going to eat the apple, but you want the cake," said Schimke.

Such indisputable logic⁴ of children is not lost on New York City Health Commissioner⁵ Thomas Farley.

"Children have a natural preference for sweets, more so than adults. On the other hand, as adults, we choose what to put in front of our children," said Farley.

Farley says New York has increased the amount of physical activity in local schools, and also improved the healthfulness of food in cafeterias.

"They do have apples. Oh, yes! And they have a salad bar," noted⁶ Schimke.

Alex also noticed that school vending⁷ machines now offer vitamin water instead of sugary high-calorie beverages⁸.

Farley notes that obesity rates in America began rising about 30 years ago, as many people traded physical labor⁹ on farms and factories for sedentary office jobs.

"Physical activity has all but disappeared out of most people's lives, unless they make it a separate task," Farley added. "At the same time, and even more importantly, food has increasingly become cheap, ready to eat, available everywhere, and so people have adopted habits to snack constantly."

Farley says the New York childhood obesity rate is still at 20 percent. But New York's decline goes against a rising national trend. And the health commissioner is heartened that the rate has fallen at all for the first time in decades - 10 percent among five and six year olds - which gives him reason to believe some youngsters will adopt lifelong habits of healthy eating.

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 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

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 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。