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

dingyi0311UID: 2627919

My comment
This article wants to raise people’s awareness of the obesity problem haunting over America. It was regarded by the author that America is stopping getting fatter is not because people begin take a diet, but it have reach a limit and could not go far beyond. people become obese because different reasons, some are due to not have any grasp of knowledge about what is healthy food, some may because they are richer and thus consume more food, and some may contribute to people’s laziness. Some of the obstacle in fighting the obese plague was revealed in the ultimate part of the article. The government not want to attack voter’s favourite vices too vigorously. Tax on sugary drinks was accused disproportionally affects the poor. All the measures now are failed. The only hope is to raise people’s awareness in their early age. Young children can be easier to form a habit of having healthy diet. And since a survey find out that people will be thinner if their friends are, and vice versa, the children have better shot at staying trim if Americans have stopped getting fatter.

plukaUID: 2721764

NOTE
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.

Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?

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.
【If you say that a decision or a situation is up in the air, you mean that it has not yet been completely settled or planned.】

Plausible theories abound. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food.


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

COMMENT

Is obesity a social problem or individual vice? I guess this essay hints something. Though people deem their eating habits as personal, gluttons do impose heavier burden on health-care system--up to one trillion in furture by reckon. Another thing, as pointed out, eating is social. Hance obesity may be the most insidious epidemic that threatens chronically the living quality of society as well as individual. As for the role of government, it's hard to balance the strict regulation and willingnessof people. Politicians do not want to reproach their gluttonous vetors too vigorously, and perhaps, so should not they. For most of us, eating is still a private thing. Under such tricky backdrop, all will be happy to see a fat plateau which can ease the tension at least at this moment.

tequilawineUID: 2702008

plateau  ['plætəu;plæ'təu]

n. 高原;平稳;稳定状态

vi. 到达平稳阶段

heap
[hɪːp]

n.
堆, 累积, 许多

v.
堆积, 装满

entice
[en·tice || ɪn'taɪs]

v.
诱骗, 怂恿, 引诱

gorge
[gɔrdʒ /gɔːdʒ]

n.
峡谷, 咽喉, 饱食

v.
塞饱; 狼吞虎咽

unorthodox  ['ʌn'ɔ:θədɔks;ʌn'ɔ:θəˌdɔks]   

adj. 非正统的，异端的

toil
[tɔɪl]

n.
辛苦, 劳累; 难事; 苦工#罗网, 圈套

v.
苦干; 费力地做; 跋涉

for days on end [简明英汉词典]

一连好几天

okra
['əʊkrə]

n.
秋葵, 秋葵荚

obesity
[əʊ'bɪːsətɪ]

n.
肥胖; 肥大

girth
[gɜrθ /gɜːθ]

n.
腰身, 肚带, 周长

rack up [简明英汉词典]

v.获胜, 击倒

each obese American racks up medical bills 42% higher than an American of normal weight

up in the air [简明英汉词典]

adv.悬而未决

throws Barack Obama’s health reforms up in the air

treble
[tre·ble || 'trebl]

v.
使增为三倍; 变成三倍

adj.
三倍的, 三重的; 唱最高声部的; 最高声部的; 高音的, 尖声的

spadework  ['speidwə:k;'speidˌwə:k]   

n. 挖掘的工作，费力气的基础工作，基本研究

vice
[vaɪs]

n.
恶习; 坏脾气; 恶行

prep.
恶习; 坏脾气; 恶行

vigorously  ['vigərəsli]

adv. 有力地，健壮地，精力旺盛地

barrage
[bar·rage || 'bærɑːʒ]

n.
弹幕, 掩护炮火#拦河坝; 阻塞; 堰

v.
以密集火力攻击

propaganda
[prop·a·gan·da || ‚prɑpə'gændə /‚prɒ-]

n.
宣传, 宣传机关, 宣传活动

wholesome
[whole·some || 'həʊlsəm]

adj.
有益健康的, 健全的, 合乎卫生的

guzzle
[guz·zle || 'gʌzl]

v.
牛饮; 暴食

1 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.
2 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.
3 Could it be that the American obesity epidemic has reached a plateau?
4 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.
5 Plausible theories abound.
6 As people grow richer, food becomes relatively cheaper. Time grows more precious: hence the lure of fast food.
7 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.
8 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.

From the conducted survey, the unavoidable truth comes out, harassing both of us numb nerves about our health diet. Yes, we need to be conscious about our pathological diet diagram. It is tough task. Cause we know that on basis of this survey, we reckon that most Americans incline to indulge in junk food.

As a result of that, the obesity in our country are becoming more and more serious, that means some day maybe we even can not find a person who is fit, at the mean time, it will also put much more pressure on society such as health insurance and so forth. It seems like Americans are most likely to be overweight than to pay federal income tax. The situation is stringent, without any doubt if we don't take action to deal with that, the day will come true as soon as far beyond our imagination.

However, here comes good news. The nation may stopped getting fatter. 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. Ironically, we still can not find a reasonable explanation of this phenomenon which lead to this decline in getting weight, in addition, we are ignorant of why America's obesity has trebled since 1960. Plausible theories abound.

Hopefully, we initiate our movements to encourage people to keep fit with some efforts which includes form both customers and merchants, on the other hand, some politicians still play some diplomatic conspiracy to meet their voters' need on the expense of our health.

The efficient and effective method comes from collaborative exertion. So what we need to do now is to stop messy chaos.

phenomen
phenomenon
domestic
diplomatic
conspire

conspiracy