Passage Five
Americans are used to being warned for their self-destructive
fondness for cheese-flavored snacks(有乳酪味道的快餐). But citizens of developing
countries are also unable to escape the danger of the First World’s fat-rich
diet and couch potato ways. At last week’s 8th International Congress on
Obesity(肥胖), held in Paris, researchers warned that the planet’s expanding
waistlines threaten "to become the curse of the next millennium(千年)".
"We used to consider obesity a problem of industrialized, rich countries,"
says Arnaud, a member of the meeting’s lead committee. "But now it has become a
world disease." Researchers blame the trend -- and the attendant
rise in the incidence of heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病) -- on the Third World’s
increasing wealth, reduced physical activity, and more calorie-laden diets. As a
result, the World Health Organization has estimated that 300 million people will
be obese by 2025, an increase of 50 million from today. In Mauritius, for
example, WHO estimates that 32 percent of the population will be obese by 2025,
compared with 7 percent in 1987. Last year, WHO said that obesity’s fatal impact
could rival smoking. There was much hopeful discussion about new
drugs such as leptin, a hormone that has proved effective for severe weight
problems. But leptin should be a last resort, says Basdevant: "First of all, we
have to consider prevention." If America is any indication, however, educating
the world about the danger of Big Macs and cable TV will be difficult: despite
heightened awareness of the need for proper diet and exercise, the number of
obese Americans is expected to double over the next three decades.
What is the main idea of the
passage
【参考答案】
Obesity has become world wide这一篇文章的主要内容是:肥胖不仅在美国广泛蔓延,在发展中国家的......