VOA标准英语2011--US Toddlers Get Jumpstart on Fitness

US Toddlers Get Jumpstart on Fitness

As she throws a ball through a hoop¹ in her weekly fitness class, Bridget might not know she is getting a workout. But her mother, Catherine Byrne, does. She wants her three-year-old to get an early start on staying fit.
“Because I did not. I want her to be fit her whole life," she says. "I want it to be part of her everyday life and not something that she has to catch up later.”
Childhood obesity² in America has more than tripled in the past 30 years, according to government statistics, and today nearly one in three youngsters are overweight or obese³. As parents grow concerned, fitness programs for babies and toddlers are on the rise. These programs try to foster a lifetime love of fitness by making exercise fun.
Bridget's class, held at an elementary school gymnasium in the Washington suburbs, is called FunFit. It's a mobile gym that caters⁴ to children ages one to 13.
Celia Kibler, the co-founder of FunFit, says it provides an opportunity for children to be physically⁵ active and have fun in a safe environment.
“We utilize⁶ the recreation departments, schools, daycares, childcare centers to really reach out to the population of kids, as many kids and parents as possible," she says. "We like to incorporate families together so that everybody learns to exercise together.”
Experts say the lack of physical activity is one of the major contributors to the childhood obesity epidemic⁷ in the United States. Young Americans - ages eight to 18 - spend more than seven and a half hours a day with entertainment media such as television, video games, computers or other electronic devices, according to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit focusing on major health care issues.
Jeff Young doesn't want his daughter Evelyn, now 22 months old, to end up like that, so he brings her to the class.
“I think this program will absolutely help keep her active and help get her out of in front of a screen of some sort, be it a TV or computer or iPhones now, you have screens all over the place.”
Kibler says FunFit offers programs in more locations each year, but still has a waiting list. My Gym, a children's fitness center, is also expanding. There are 150 locations in the U.S. and about 60 in 25 other countries.
“Our gym in Potomac has been in existence for about 11 years, and we opened up this gym about eight months ago in Bethesda," says Mandy Lemar, who owns two My Gym franchises⁸ outside Washington. "There is definitely demand in this area for this type of program.”
The program is designed to help children learn other skills, too.
“The children are working on their socialization skills, their team work, their listening skills," says Lemar. "There are so many different things they are learning here at the same time that they are using their bodies and having fun working out.”
Combining age-appropriate exercise with fun activities can be remarkably⁹ beneficial to children, according to Karen McDonnell, a public health professor at George Washington University.
“As long as the places are safe and they are fun, and there is a trained facilitator who can help work with parents and children," she says, "then it can provide great benefit to the developing child, physically, cognitively¹⁰, socially.”
The parents of these little exercisers say they hope these first steps will lead to a lifetime of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

1 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

2 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。

3 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。

4 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

7 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。

8 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

9 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

10 cognitively   

参考例句：

• Cognitively,man,the subject of cognition,must classify and categorize the objects. 从认知学角度来看 ，作为认知主体的人对于认知对象必须进行分类和范畴化。 来自互联网
• Cognitively, reference can be studied along with information processing of human mind. 从认知的角度看，要研究人类思维的信息处理过程。 来自互联网