(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
A recent study questions whether placing attention on economic growth is the best way to improve child nutrition in low- and middle-income countries.
Subu Subramanian is a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts. He says there is a common belief on the best way to improve child health in developing countries. He puts it this way: "Let's just go after economic growth and then everything else will just follow."
FILE - School children in Colorado.
But he says that is not always true. Take India for example, a common measure of a country's economic heath is gross domestic product (GDP). India's GDP has been growing by more than five percent a year, that is a higher growth rate than most Western countries.
Yet more than two-fifths of India's children are underweight. And Subu Subramanian says, the percentage of underweight children has changed little since the the early 1990s. He and other researchers asked a question, "was economic growth failing to reach children in countries other than India?"
They looked at health surveys carried out since 1990 in 36 low- and middle-income countries, mostly South of Africa's Sahara Desert. The researchers compared the effect of GDP growth and signs of child malnutrition - like stunted growth and being underweight. But the researchers found only a small relationship or correlation.
"practically zero to very, very small," said Subramanian.
The group reported their findings in the journal Lancet Global Health. Subu Subramanian says money should be spent on clear water and waste-treatment system, childhood immunization campaigns and other programs.
"Without these directing investments, what we are seeing is [that] economic growth by itself is not making much impact," said Subramanian.
But that is not how Lawrence Haddad sees the issue. He is head of the Institute of Development Studies in Britain. Lawrence Haddad says malnutrition has dropped sharply over the past 20 years in countries like Vietnam, Ghana or Brazil. He says economic growth was responsible for half of those declines.
"The other half is attributable to strategic investments in water, sanitation, health systems, nutrition programs," said Haddad.
He says it takes both GDP growth and the right investments to improve child nutrition.
And that is the Economics Report for VOA Learning English. Find more of our programs, lessons and videos at learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Mario Ritter.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.underweight adj. 重量不足的 n. 重量不足；不符合要求的重量
Nearly a third of the children were severely underweight.
约有三分之一的孩子曾严重体重过轻。
2.malnutrition n. 营养失调，营养不良
Infections are more likely in those suffering from malnutrition.
感染更有可能发生在那些营养不良的人身上。
3.immunization n. 免疫
Health workers spread the word about the benefits of immunization.
医疗工作者宣传关于接种疫苗的好处。
4.sanitation n. [医] 环境卫生；卫生设备；下水道设施
The location is exceptionally poor, viewed from the sanitation point.
从卫生角度来看， 这个地段非常糟糕。
内容解析
1."The other half is attributable to strategic investments in water, sanitation, health systems, nutrition programs," said Haddad.
attributable to 由于，由…引起；可归因于；应得部分
Their illnesses are attributable to a poor diet.
他们的病可能是不良饮食所致。
His illness is attributable to overwork.
他的病可归因于劳累过度。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
最近一项研究在调查是否将注意力放在经济增长上是否是改善中低收入国家儿童营养状况的最佳办法。
苏布·苏布拉马尼安是马萨诸塞州哈佛公共健康学院教授，他说人们普遍认为存在改善发展中国家儿童健康的最佳办法，用他的话来说就是，“让我们先追求经济发展，然后其他一切就会跟上的。”
但他说这并非一直都对，以印度为例，衡量一国经济健康状况的常见标准是GDP，印度的GDP每年增长率超过5%，这比大多数西方国家都要高。
然而有五分之二以上的印度儿童体重不达标，苏布·苏布拉马尼安说，自20世纪90年代以来体重不足儿童比例几乎没什么变化。他和其他研究者问了这么一个问题：“印度之外的其他国家经济发展是否也未能惠及儿童？”
于是他们查看了1990年以来在36个中低收入国家进行的健康调查，这些国家大多在撒哈拉南部非洲沙漠。研究者将GDP增长的效果与儿童营养不良的迹象进行对比，这些迹象包括发育不良和体重不足。但研究者发现两者的关联很小。
“两者的关联几乎为零。”
研究组将研究结果发表在杂志《柳叶刀全球卫生》上，苏布·苏布拉马尼安说应该将资金花在清洁用水和水处理系统、儿童免疫运动和其他项目上。
“没有这些直接投资，我们看到的就是经济增长本身未能产生很大影响。”
但劳伦斯·哈达德并不这么认为，他是英国发展研究所所长，他说过去20年来越南、加纳和巴西等国的营养不良率已经显著下降。他说这要归功于经济发展。
“其他的原因要归于在水、卫生、医疗系统和营养项目上的战略投资。”
他说要改善儿童营养需要GDP发展和正确的投资。
这就是美国之音慢速英语经济报道，登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多节目、课程和视频，我是马里奥·利特。
