The world now has more overweight people than hungry ones and governments should design economic strategies to influence national diets, a conference of international experts heard yesterday．The transition from a starving world to an obese(肥胖的)one had happened with dramatic speed, US professor Barry Popkin told the annual conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists．
“The reality is that globally far more obesity than undernutrition exists,”Popkin said, adding that while hunger was slowly declining, obesity was rapidly spreading．
There are more than a billion overweight people in the world and 800 million who are undernourished, he said at the Gold Coast convention centre near the eastern Australian city of Brisbane．
The“burden of obesity,”with its related diseases, was also shifting from the rich to the poor, not only in urban but in rural areas around the world, he said．China experienced the changes, with a major shift in diet from cereals to animal products and vegetable oils accompanied by a decline in physical work, more motorized transport and more television viewing．
Food prices could be used to influence people's diets and drive them towards healthier options, he suggested, while acknowledging that the effects of such policies needed to be carefully studied．
“We financially support some things; we don't support others．We control some items．So, for instance, if we charge money for every calorie of soft drink and fruit drink that was consumed, people would consume less of it,”he said．
“If we support fruit and vegetable production, people would consume more of it and we would have a healthier diet．”
University of Minnesota professor Benjamin Senauer used a comparative study of lifestyles in the United States and Japan to show how the costs of food and transport play a role in the problem．
Japan has one of the world's lowest rates of obesity and the US one of the highest．
(1)
The passage is mainly about ________．
[ ]
A．
the problem of obesity in the world
B．
the influence of diets on health
C．
the spread of obesity-related diseases
D．
the nutrition of different food and drinks
(2)
The underlined word“transition” is closest in meaning to the word“________” in the passage．
[ ]
A．
burden
B．
transport
C．
shift
D．
production
(3)
Which of the following statements about obesity is NOT true?
[ ]
A．
National diets have a great effect on the number of obese people．
B．
Both rich people and poor people may suffer from overweight．
C．
Obesity is a problem mainly existing among rich people in urban areas．
D．
Obesity is spreading with dramatic speed around the world．
(4)
According to the passage, which may have the least possibility of overweight?
[ ]
A．
Eating animal products, having vegetable oils and eating cereals．
B．
Eating cereals, fruit and vegetables and taking part in physical labour．
C．
Eating animal products, taking motorized transport and watching TV．
D．
Taking motorized transport, watching TV and having vegetable oils．
(5)
The reason why Japanese have the lowest rates of obesity might be ________．
[ ]
A．
their drinks don't contain as much calories
B．
their food costs less than that of the US
C．
their means of transport is more convenient
D．
the prices of food and transport keep them in a healthier lifestyle
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