[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][01.26]

jinziqiUID: 2387034

[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][01.26]

Lexington
The fat plateau
Americans are no longer getting fatter, it appears
Jan 21st 2010
From The Economist print edition



A FEW years ago, Burger King, a fast-food chain, conducted a study of the eating habits of some of its most frequent customers. A few dozen “SuperFans”, as the firm calls them, recorded and photographed everything they ate for two weeks. The results were collected in a book called “Food for Thought”. Unsurprisingly, this book is not publicly available: amateur photos of heaps of junk food are hardly an enticing advertisement for a firm that supplies the stuff. Nonetheless, “Food for Thought” gives an insight into why some Americans have such poor diets.

The fast-food fans in the book typically lead chaotic lives. They often toil long, irregular hours for not much money. They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging at unorthodox times. They favour whatever is quick, convenient and comforting. (“I selected the pie because it was easy to grab out of the fridge,” says one.) They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science. (“I am eating chocolate muffins at work because they are not too heavy,” says another.) Oddly for a piece of corporate research, the book contains passages that are quite moving. One single dad’s diary shows him eating nothing but junk for days on end. Then, one evening, he visits his aunt’s house and she cooks him a feast of real food: pork, okra stew, collard greens and corn bread.

At 33.8%, America’s obesity rate is ten times higher than Japan’s. In all, 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight. (Some studies yield lower numbers, but since they typically ask people how much they weigh, rather than weighing them, scepticism is in order.) Few problems, besides death, afflict more people. Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.

But the good news is that the nation may have stopped getting fatter. A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that American women were no more likely to be obese in 2008 than they were nearly a decade before. For men, there was a small rise in obesity over the same period, but no change in the past three years. Among children, too, there was no change in obesity rates except among the very heaviest boys, whose numbers increased slightly. Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?

If the national girth really has stopped expanding, that would be a blessing, though of course it is a big fall in obesity that is really required. Although a little extra heft is no big deal, many Americans are so ample that it ruins their health. That places a burden on the health-care system: each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight, according to Eric Finkelstein and Justin Trogdon, writing in Health Affairs. Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature death.

The startling Republican victory in Massachusetts this week throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air. But the issue will not go away. And a plateau in the obesity rate would make some kind of reform a bit less expensive. It will not lead to a sudden dip in health-care costs, predicts Mr Trogdon. But it could substantially slow the rate at which they are rising. Previous projections typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning. As a thought experiment in 2008, Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Global Health drew a line from recent trends and projected that 100% of Americans would be overweight by 2048. By 2030, his model showed health-care costs attributable to excess weight approaching a trillion dollars a year.

The latest numbers remind us how little is known about public health. Of course, people put on weight when they consume more calories than they burn off. But no one knows for sure why America’s obesity has trebled since 1960. Plausible theories abound. As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food. Desk work burns fewer calories than spadework. And labour-saving devices do just that: if we still washed dishes and clothes by hand, we would burn off five pounds of flesh each year, reckons Barry Popkin, the author of a book called “The World is Fat”. All this is no doubt true, but it does not explain why Americans are fatter than people in other rich countries, nor why they appear to have stopped getting fatter.

No to nanniesKathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, says that “fighting obesity is at the heart” of health reform. But telling people to eat more healthily is like telling them not to have risky sex. Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags them to curb their most basic instincts. Some regulations help: forcing restaurants to post calorie counts on dishes, for example, prompts diners to pick less calorific treats. But politicians are reluctant to attack voters’ favourite vices too vigorously. A recent proposal to tax sugary drinks, for example, went nowhere. Opponents argued that it would disproportionately affect the poor. True enough, but the poor are disproportionately likely to be overweight.

The constant barrage of pro-vegetable propaganda in schools may have raised awareness of the need for a balanced diet, reckons Mr Trogdon. And popular pressure has prompted many fast-food outlets to offer salads and other wholesome fare. But even if good food were freely available, losing weight is hard. Every year, 25% of American men and 43% of American women attempt it. “[F]ailure rates are exceedingly high,” notes a JAMA editorial. But there is hope. Eating is social. Studies suggest that people guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don’t. So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim.

原文链接:
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15330562

123runfordreamUID: 2697608

标题是这个——

The fat plateau

123runfordreamUID: 2697608

racks up ； premature death；



Plausible theories abound. 似是而非的理论比比皆是。


the nanny state (the nanny stateespecially BrE a government which tries to control the lives of its citizens too much)


Comment:
Unlikely to what I’ve learned before, Americans get fat because they have a rush life so they have to grasp humbergers (hamburgs) quickly. And this article tells me that’s because they are so getting richer and richer that they eat more move less, while the devices of daily life has become more convenient without people’s moving forth and back in the chikens.
Obviously, obesity can cause a series of diseases, which the common one is hearts disease. That’s the point of this article that, I think, if it has not so much affected heath care problem, I don't get the meaning of it. Or, I don't understand that obesity meaning too much.
And speaking to the convenience of high-techs bringing to us, it can be relevent (relevant) in society issues.

jinziqiUID: 2387034

heaps   a great number or large quantity: LOT
chaotic lives
toil    辛苦工作
obesity    a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body
rack up  : ACHIEVE, GAIN
spadework  work done with a spade
nag  不断找岔、抱怨、责骂而产生烦恼
propaganda  the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
guzzle  习惯性地狂饮 to drink greedily or habitually
trim   （为了美观）修剪  

Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.

American women were no more likely to be obese in 2008 than they were nearly a decade before. For men, there was a small rise in obesity over the same period, but no change in the past three years. Among children, too, there was no change in obesity rates except among the very heaviest boys, whose numbers increased slightly. Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?

The startling Republican victory in Massachusetts this week throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air.

True enough, but the poor are disproportionately likely to be overweight.

My comment
It is this passage that makes me realize that the true reason why American are so fat. They are fat is not because they prefer beef or something else as we thought of. In fact, they are lazy so that they only pick up convenient things to eat such as pies and muffin to save time for money. It is no wonder that fast food such as Burger King and KFC is really popular there. But the difference is that American just drive to buy and take it away and we often sit down to eat just in the restaurant. However, if those who overweight or obesity could realize that they spend much more on medical bills than those people of normal weight, I guess they will pay more attention on eating habits. It is not worth to eat junk food every day to make money, and then pay back on medical bills.

ieyangj08UID: 2743219

Sentence

1) They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging at unorthodox times.
2) They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science.
3) At 33.8%, America’s obesity rate is ten times higher than Japan’s.
4) Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.
5) Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?
6) Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature death.
7) The latest numbers remind us how little is known about public health.
8) But politicians are reluctant to attack voters’ favourite vices too vigorously.
9) So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim.

Comment

Health problems are a matter of universal concern. Obesity is such a problem.

The increase on national girth in recent years can be due to various reasons. Besides desk work consuming less energy than traditional spade work and labor-saving devices, the lack of nutritional knowledge is also a main reason to blame. Excess fat and sugar intake are one main reason led to a national obesity which can’t be ignored.

The Government’s related policy seems to be no effect on this issue, for no politicians will attack their supporters’ favorite vices too vigorously.

However, recently there are good reasons to believe that the national trend of growth in body weight will not continue. Many survey data can support this view. Also eating is social, that is people’s food intake is related to the weigh of their friends and relatives. If some people begin to control their weight, the whole nation’s girth can be expected to fall within a normal range.

敛寒影UID: 2613052

up in the air悬而未决.
Plausible theories abound. As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food.


Comment:

The irregular pace of life and anomalistic diet custom lead most American people favour quick and convenient food,which is imperfect in nutrition and easily getting fat.Sorts of surveys convey that America's obeisity rate is increasingly growing if they continuously consuming more calories than burning off.The health reforms making the costs of obesity a bit expensive could slow the rate at which they are rising.

Referring to the several methods government taken to rein in calorie in food,they may operate in short term but in the long run.I consent with the author that Eating is social,and your friends' custom influenced you most.People guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don't.It is cardinal to prompt awareness of people the balanced diet is necessary for healthy.Picking less calories in supper and less sugary food,and taking exercises more often,that is the golden rule.

domudomuUID: 2670967

A FEW years ago, Burger King, a fast-food chain, conducted a study of the eating habits of some of its most frequent customers. A few dozen “SuperFans”, as the firm calls them, recorded and photographed everything they ate for two weeks. The results were collected in a book called “Food for Thought”. Unsurprisingly, this book is not publicly available: amateur photos of heaps （一堆)of junk food are hardly an enticing(吸引人的有魅力的） advertisement for a firm that supplies the stuff. Nonetheless, “Food for Thought” gives an insight into why some Americans have such poor diets.
（汉堡王公司在联系他们家的常客来出一本广告册，来证明为何美国人爱那些垃圾食品ps：他们家的培根很好七）

The fast-food fans in the book typically lead chaotic lives. They often toil（长久工作） long, irregular hours for not much money. They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging（塞饱，填饱） at unorthodox （非正统的）times. They favour whatever is quick, convenient and comforting. (“I selected the pie because it was easy to grab out of the fridge,” says one.) They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science. (“I am eating chocolate muffins at work because they are not too heavy,” says another.) Oddly for a piece of corporate research, the book contains passages that are quite moving. One single dad’s diary shows him eating nothing but junk for days on end. Then, one evening, he visits his aunt’s house and she cooks him a feast of real food: pork, okra stew, collard greens and corn bread.
（吃快餐的人的类型和原因）

At 33.8%, America’s obesity rate is ten times higher than Japan’s. In all, 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight. (Some studies yield lower numbers, but since they typically ask people how much they weigh, rather than weighing them, scepticism is in order.) Few problems, besides death, afflict more people. Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.

But the good news is that the nation may have stopped getting fatter. A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that American women were no more likely to be obese in 2008 than they were nearly a decade before. For men, there was a small rise in obesity over the same period, but no change in the past three years. Among children, too, there was no change in obesity rates except among the very heaviest boys, whose numbers increased slightly. Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?

If the national girth really has stopped expanding, that would be a blessing, though of course it is a big fall in obesity that is really required. Although a little extra heft is no big deal, many Americans are so ample that it ruins their health. That places a burden on the health-care system: each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight, according to Eric Finkelstein and Justin Trogdon, writing in Health Affairs. Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature death.

The startling Republican victory in Massachusetts this week throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air. But the issue will not go away. And a plateau in the obesity rate would make some kind of reform a bit less expensive. It will not lead to a sudden dip in health-care costs, predicts Mr Trogdon. But it could substantially slow the rate at which they are rising. Previous projections typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning. As a thought experiment in 2008, Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Global Health drew a line from recent trends and projected that 100% of Americans would be overweight by 2048. By 2030, his model showed health-care costs attributable to excess weight approaching a trillion dollars a year.

The latest numbers remind us how little is known about public health. Of course, people put on weight when they consume more calories than they burn off. But no one knows for sure why America’s obesity has trebled since 1960. Plausible theories abound. As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food. Desk work burns fewer calories than spadework. And labour-saving devices do just that: if we still washed dishes and clothes by hand, we would burn off five pounds of flesh each year, reckons Barry Popkin, the author of a book called “The World is Fat”. All this is no doubt true, but it does not explain why Americans are fatter than people in other rich countries, nor why they appear to have stopped getting fatter.

No to nanniesKathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, says that “fighting obesity is at the heart” of health reform. But telling people to eat more healthily is like telling them not to have risky sex. Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags them to curb their most basic instincts. Some regulations help: forcing restaurants to post calorie counts on dishes, for example, prompts diners to pick less calorific treats. But politicians are reluctant to attack voters’ favourite vices too vigorously. A recent proposal to tax sugary drinks, for example, went nowhere. Opponents argued that it would disproportionately affect the poor. True enough, but the poor are disproportionately likely to be overweight.

The constant barrage of pro-vegetable propaganda in schools may have raised awareness of the need for a balanced diet, reckons Mr Trogdon. And popular pressure has prompted many fast-food outlets to offer salads and other wholesome fare. But even if good food were freely available, losing weight is hard. Every year, 25% of American men and 43% of American women attempt it. “[F]ailure rates are exceedingly high,” notes a JAMA editorial. But there is hope. Eating is social. Studies suggest that people guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don’t. So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim.

domudomuUID: 2670967

A FEW years ago, Burger King, a fast-food chain, conducted a study of the eating habits of some of its most frequent customers. A few dozen “SuperFans”, as the firm calls them, recorded and photographed everything they ate for two weeks. The results were collected in a book called “Food for Thought”. Unsurprisingly, this book is not publicly available: amateur photos of heaps （一堆)of junk food are hardly an enticing(吸引人的有魅力的） advertisement for a firm that supplies the stuff. Nonetheless, “Food for Thought” gives an insight into why some Americans have such poor diets.
（汉堡王公司在联系他们家的常客来出一本广告册，来证明为何美国人爱那些垃圾食品ps：他们家的培根很好七）

The fast-food fans in the book typically lead chaotic lives. They often toil（长久工作） long, irregular hours for not much money. They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging（塞饱，填饱） at unorthodox （非正统的）times. They favour whatever is quick, convenient and comforting. (“I selected the pie because it was easy to grab out of the fridge,” says one.) They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science. (“I am eating chocolate muffins at work because they are not too heavy,” says another.) Oddly for a piece of corporate research, the book contains passages that are quite moving. One single dad’s diary shows him eating nothing but junk for days on end. Then, one evening, he visits his aunt’s house and she cooks him a feast of real food: pork, okra stew, collard greens and corn bread.
（吃快餐的人的类型和原因）

At 33.8%, America’s obesity（肥胖） rate is ten times higher than Japan’s. In all, 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight. (Some studies yield lower numbers, but since they typically ask people how much they weigh, rather than weighing them, scepticism is in order.) Few problems, besides death, afflict more people. Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.
（在美国肥胖是比较正常且为大家接受的问题）

But the good news is that the nation may have stopped getting fatter. A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that American women were no more likely to be obese in 2008 than they were nearly a decade before. For men, there was a small rise in obesity over the same period, but no change in the past three years. Among children, too, there was no change in obesity rates except among the very heaviest boys, whose numbers increased slightly. Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau（停滞时期，平稳时期）?
（种种现象表明，美国人对待肥胖的态度还是比较乐观的，由此是否可以推断美国的肥胖已处在平稳时期）

If the national girth（周长） really has stopped expanding, that would be a blessing, though of course it is a big fall in obesity that is really required. Although a little extra heft （重量，体积）is no big deal, many Americans are so ample（足够大的） that it ruins their health. That places a burden on the health-care system: each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight, according to Eric Finkelstein and Justin Trogdon, writing in Health Affairs. Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature（早期的） death.
（肥胖给自己和社会带来的危害都是很大的）

The startling Republican victory in Massachusetts this week throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air. But the issue will not go away. And a plateau in the obesity rate would make some kind of reform a bit less expensive. It will not lead to a sudden dip in health-care costs, predicts Mr Trogdon. But it could substantially slow the rate at which they are rising. Previous projections typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning. As a thought experiment in 2008, Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Global Health drew a line from recent trends and projected that 100% of Americans would be overweight by 2048. By 2030, his model showed health-care costs attributable to excess weight approaching a trillion dollars a year.

The latest numbers remind us how little is known about public health. Of course, people put on weight when they consume more calories than they burn off. But no one knows for sure why America’s obesity has trebled since 1960. Plausible theories abound. As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food. Desk work burns fewer calories than spadework. And labour-saving devices do just that: if we still washed dishes and clothes by hand, we would burn off five pounds of flesh each year, reckons Barry Popkin, the author of a book called “The World is Fat”. All this is no doubt true, but it does not explain why Americans are fatter than people in other rich countries, nor why they appear to have stopped getting fatter.

No to nanniesKathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, says that “fighting obesity is at the heart” of health reform. But telling people to eat more healthily is like telling them not to have risky sex. Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags them to curb their most basic instincts. Some regulations help: forcing restaurants to post calorie counts on dishes, for example, prompts diners to pick less calorific treats. But politicians are reluctant to attack voters’ favourite vices too vigorously. A recent proposal to tax sugary drinks, for example, went nowhere. Opponents argued that it would disproportionately affect the poor. True enough, but the poor are disproportionately likely to be overweight.

The constant barrage of pro-vegetable propaganda in schools may have raised awareness of the need for a balanced diet, reckons Mr Trogdon. And popular pressure has prompted many fast-food outlets to offer salads and other wholesome fare. But even if good food were freely available, losing weight is hard. Every year, 25% of American men and 43% of American women attempt it. “[F]ailure rates are exceedingly high,” notes a JAMA editorial. But there is hope. Eating is social. Studies suggest that people guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don’t. So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim.

domudomuUID: 2670967

由于网络问题发的很囧不好意思啊

domudomuUID: 2670967

A FEW years ago, Burger King, a fast-food chain, conducted a study of the eating habits of some of its most frequent customers. A few dozen “SuperFans”, as the firm calls them, recorded and photographed everything they ate for two weeks. The results were collected in a book called “Food for Thought”. Unsurprisingly, this book is not publicly available: amateur photos of heaps （一堆)of junk food are hardly an enticing(吸引人的有魅力的） advertisement for a firm that supplies the stuff. Nonetheless, “Food for Thought” gives an insight into why some Americans have such poor diets. （汉堡王公司在联系他们家的常客来出一本广告册，来证明为何美国人爱那些垃圾食品ps：他们家的培根很好七） The fast-food fans in the book typically lead chaotic lives. They often toil（长久工作） long, irregular hours for not much money. They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging（塞饱，填饱） at unorthodox （非正统的）times. They favour whatever is quick, convenient and comforting. (“I selected the pie because it was easy to grab out of the fridge,” says one.) They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science. (“I am eating chocolate muffins at work because they are not too heavy,” says another.) Oddly for a piece of corporate research, the book contains passages that are quite moving. One single dad’s diary shows him eating nothing but junk for days on end. Then, one evening, he visits his aunt’s house and she cooks him a feast of real food: pork, okra stew, collard greens and corn bread. （吃快餐的人的类型和原因） At 33.8%, America’s obesity（肥胖） rate is ten times higher than Japan’s. In all, 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight. (Some studies yield lower numbers, but since they typically ask people how much they weigh, rather than weighing them, scepticism is in order.) Few problems, besides death, afflict more people. Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax. （在美国肥胖是比较正常且为大家接受的问题） But the good news is that the nation may have stopped getting fatter. A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that American women were no more likely to be obese in 2008 than they were nearly a decade before. For men, there was a small rise in obesity over the same period, but no change in the past three years. Among children, too, there was no change in obesity rates except among the very heaviest boys, whose numbers increased slightly. Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau（停滞时期，平稳时期）? （种种现象表明，美国人对待肥胖的态度还是比较乐观的，由此是否可以推断美国的肥胖已处在平稳时期） If the national girth（周长） really has stopped expanding, that would be a blessing, though of course it is a big fall in obesity that is really required. Although a little extra heft （重量，体积）is no big deal, many Americans are so ample（足够大的） that it ruins their health. That places a burden on the health-care system: each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight, according to Eric Finkelstein and Justin Trogdon, writing in Health Affairs. Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature（早期的） death. （肥胖给自己和社会带来的危害都是很大的） The startling Republican victory in Massachusetts（马萨诸塞州） this week throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air. But the issue will not go away. And a plateau in the obesity rate would make some kind of reform a bit less expensive. It will not lead to a sudden dip in health-care costs, predicts Mr Trogdon. But it could substantially slow the rate at which they are rising. Previous projections typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning. As a thought experiment in 2008, Youfa Wang of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Global Health drew a line from recent trends and projected that 100% of Americans would be overweight by 2048. By 2030, his model showed health-care costs attributable to excess weight approaching a trillion dollars a year. （关于奥巴马的健康改革，并不会减少医保开销，但会降低） The latest numbers remind us how little is known about public health. Of course, people put on weight when they consume more calories than they burn off. But no one knows for sure why America’s obesity has trebled（三倍的） since 1960. Plausible（能说会道，花言巧语） theories abound. As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure（吸引力） of fast food. Desk work burns fewer calories than spadework（挖掘工作）. And labour-saving devices do just that: if we still washed dishes and clothes by hand, we would burn off five pounds of flesh each year, reckons Barry Popkin, the author of a book called “The World is Fat”. All this is no doubt true, but it does not explain why Americans are fatter than people in other rich countries, nor why they appear to have stopped getting fatter. （引用了世界是平的这一本书，并说了一些卡路里消耗方面的事情。) No to nanniesKathleen Sebelius, the health secretary, says that “fighting obesity is at the heart” of health reform. But telling people to eat more healthily is like telling them not to have risky sex. Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags（不断挑剔，抱怨） them to curb（限制） their most basic instincts. Some regulations help: forcing restaurants to post calorie counts on dishes, for example, prompts diners to pick less calorific treats. But politicians are reluctant to attack voters’ favourite vices（恶习） too vigorously. A recent proposal to tax sugary drinks, for example, went nowhere. Opponents argued that it would disproportionately（不匀称，不相称） affect the poor. True enough, but the poor are disproportionately likely to be overweight. (对于美国人来说吃比什么都有吸引力，也采取了一些减少卡路里的方式，虽然看起来并不奏效） The constant barrage（攻击） of pro-vegetable propaganda（宣传鼓动） in schools may have raised awareness of the need for a balanced diet, reckons Mr Trogdon. And popular pressure has prompted many fast-food outlets to offer salads and other wholesome（有益健康的） fare. But even if good food were freely available, losing weight is hard. Every year, 25% of American men and 43% of American women attempt it. “[F]ailure rates are exceedingly high,” notes a JAMA editorial. But there is hope. Eating is social. Studies suggest that people guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don’t. So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim. comments： Everytime when it talks about the junk food, the very famous M's and KFC will occur in my mind. When we were still children, we are so into thoes food. And parents would prevent us from eating too much about it. And the over-weight Americans have already impresses us deeply from the news report and TV shows. Now, the American government keeps this in mind very much and take a lot of measures to offer the wholesome advice from eating to sports in daily life. Thus ,these action remind me of an old story related to Popery who was once an idol of American children, and the local government just used this cartoon to attract children eating spinach. Well the history usually share similar similarities. Western people like to solve things withn their special methods. But this time, it is not only about children but also many aldults. There is no idol and sample now. I do really hope that this time American people can think out more ideas to solve this issue. After all, health is really important and is always more important than we can ever imagined.

KiKi~淇水滺滺UID: 2679824

Sentence

They grab food when they can, skipping many meals and gorging at unorthodox times.

They often have an imperfect grasp of nutritional science.

Few problems, besides death, afflict more people. Americans are more likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax.

lead chaotic lives

Previous projections typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning.

people put on weight when they consume more calories than they burn off.

Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags them to curb their most basic instincts.

So if Americans have stopped getting fatter, their children have a better shot at staying trim.

qisaimanUID: 2703629

i can imagine the delicious food in china would probably be the most important reason of the nostalgia for those who study aboard , if not the only one.
by linking the obesity with the recent hot topic- health care , the author suggests that since "each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight, " a healthy diet campaign may help to slow the rising rate of medical cost.  however , i doubt about this assertion on two reasons. one : how many dollars do the obese have to pay more than those of normal weight? are all the health-care cost of the obese paid duo to their overweight. if not , how many of the proportion ? an estimated number will say more.
two: as far as I am concerned , the dozens of billion dollars of health-care cost lie in the current  regime of american medicare , where the hospital tend to treat the patient without more than needed to make a profit, then the bill is handled to the insurer, who readily turn to the government for help. and the vicious cycle forms as it is today.

番茄斗斗UID: 2720914

好词-表达-句式-生词

The fast-food fans in the book typically lead chaotic lives.
Some studies yield（提供） lower numbers, but since they typically ask peoplehow much they weigh, rather than weighing them, scepticism is in order(适宜的).
Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?
If the national girth（腰围） really has stopped expanding, that would be a blessing, though of course it is a big fall in obesity that is really required.
each obese American racks up（积累） medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight
Add to that the indirect costs of obesity, such as lost productivity due to sickness or premature death.
Previous projections（预测） typically assumed that Americans would keep on ballooning.
Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food.
Americans are suspicious of the nanny state（对国民管头管脚的政府） at the best of times, letalone when it nags（不断的烦扰） them to curb their most basic instincts.
A recent proposal to tax sugary drinks, for example, went nowhere
The constant barrage of（一连串的） pro-vegetable propaganda（宣传） in schools may have raised awareness of the need for a balanced diet

COMMENT:
Obesity is always a grand headache in America, and today it finally comes across its plateau. Instead of giving a detailed data, author draws the chaotic lives fast food fans living in US. Irregular diet habit combined with random choice of food, as author put it, contribute to the tremendous obesity rate, which burdens the medical bill, as a matter of fact. Though the obesity rate has stopped increasing, we are not supposed to stop wondering what's the cause of obesity in US. If it is brought by the advent of labor-saving devices, encouragement involving exercises can handle it well. And it will suffer more once it is merely connected with the diet habit, as it is formed through years. Being curbed the basic instinct is more than a fuss to American, as a result, time is a necessity along with the law force.

海王泪UID: 2673613

Unfamiliar Words
Heap, enticing, trebled, nanny, nag, propaganda, fare

Useful Expressions

Words and Phrases
Unsurprisingly, this book is not publicly available.
Be publicly available=be available to public
In all, 68% of Americans are either obese or overweight.
Obese>Overweight
Few problems, besides death, afflict more people.
Afflict=cause suffering=torture=rack
Plausible theories abound.
A abound=there are a lot of A
“fighting obesity is at the heart” of health reform.
A is at the heart of B=A is cardinal/important/central/essential of B
Americans are suspicious of the nanny state at the best of times, let alone when it nags them to curb their most basic instincts.
Be suspicious of=suspect
Other wholesome fare (=food)
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Materials

【Description of Hardworking People with Little Money】
They often toil long, irregular hours for not much money.

【Argument-Alternative Explanation】
Eating is social. Studies suggest that people guzzle more if they have overweight friends and relatives, and less if they don’t.
When talking about some activity, you can think about the social interaction among people. That is, mutual boost or curb may cause the phenomenon described in the Argument.
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My Comment
A book with a series of daily photographs opens the curtain of today’s topic. I could understand how the scene looks like: Heaps of hamburgers, spots of ketchup, splash of coke, and certainly, the super size fans.

It is ironic for Americans, who faithfully believe in Bible, commit one of the deadliest sins--Gluttony. From this article I got an interesting idea that the so-called “Nanny State” nags her super-size residents not for maternal love but for the high cost of health-bills. Obesity ruins American’s health and thus places a burden on the health-care system. Nanny Sam, Uncle Sam’s another image, gets a headache about the medical charges for their children.

This article also tells us some plausible theories about obesity. The problem is consuming more calories than burning off as food becomes relatively cheaper and time grows more precious. More and more people enjoy the fast-food and gorge them until they are full. Moreover, automatics saves calories when people lack access to moving their body except fingers. However, the author suddenly point out these theories do not explain why only Americans stand out fattestly among so many developed countries.

Fortunately, supersize American recently meets its plateau in obesity rate. But I believe the struggle for trim has a long way to go.

prettywraithUID: 197049

Comments (2010-01-26):
The author grants a humorous subject, The Fat Plateau, to the article. At first glance, I hardly understand its meaning. After finishing the passage, I feel both the topic and contents are interesting. Perhaps, it is a serious topic in American. After all, a vast majority of American people are suffering from overweight, and federal health-care system must pay more dollars for their medical bills. From the author's view, though America’s obesity rate has changed little in the past decade, there still exists harmful effect on the American health care system and the next generation. Therefore, it is urgent issue need the government take a further action. And the author also shows us several solutions to the problem, which may not work effectively. As one cosmopolitan, I have one suggestion. In developing countries and least developed country, I believe most of people do not endure the pain of overweight, and even some of them are suffering from hunger because of foods shortage. I advise American should share their junk foods with those hungry people. As a result of this action, there will be low obesity rate in America, less burden on the health-care system, and a decreasing number of hungry people.

Wrong Spelling：
problem  porblem
because  becasue