健康专家寻求识别和治疗肥胖的新方法

Health Experts Seek New Ways to Identify and Treat Obesity

慢速 | 六级（偏易）| 715词 | 6min56s

刘立军供稿

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To explain the limitations of BMI and propose alternative methods for diagnosing obesity.  

B. To analyze the global prevalence of obesity and its impact on public health systems.  

C. To discuss the challenges of implementing new obesity definitions in healthcare.  

D. To advocate for the immediate adoption of new obesity diagnostic methods worldwide.  

Q2. What is one of the key innovations in the new obesity definitions proposed by experts?

A. Introducing waist circumference as a replacement for BMI.  

B. Expanding the definition to include clinical and pre-clinical obesity.  

C. Eliminating BMI entirely from obesity diagnoses.  

D. Focusing solely on health conditions caused by obesity.  

Q3. According to the passage, why does BMI often fail to accurately diagnose obesity?

A. It does not account for differences in body composition, such as muscle mass.  

B. It focuses too heavily on waist circumference as a primary indicator.  

C. It cannot identify individuals with pre-clinical obesity.  

D. It is based on outdated medical research.  

Q4. What challenge does Dr. Katherine Saunders highlight regarding the implementation of the new obesity definitions?

A. The lack of affordable diagnostic tools for clinical obesity.  

B. The complexity of distinguishing between muscle mass and fat mass.  

C. The difficulty of standardizing waist circumference measurements.  

D. The need for international agreement on obesity diagnostic methods.  

Q5. What can be inferred about the public’s reaction to the new obesity definitions?

A. The public will likely embrace the changes due to their scientific basis.  

B. The public will demand more research before accepting the new categories.  

C. The new definitions will lead to widespread acceptance of obesity as a medical condition.  

D. The complexity of the new definitions may make them difficult for the public to understand.  

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

Health Experts Seek New Ways to Identify and Treat Obesity

A group of international experts is proposing a new way to define and identify obesity — a medical condition linked to having too much body fat. The change aims to help doctors better identify and treat affected individuals.

(Q1) The new proposal shifts attention from a highly debated method called the body mass index (BMI). BMI is a calculation of a person’s height and weight. The change would mean BMI would no longer be the only way to define obesity. The method would be expanded to include other measurements, such as waist size, and other evidence of health problems linked to being overweight.

Obesity is estimated to affect more than 1 billion people worldwide. In the U.S., about 40 percent of adults are considered obese, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Dr. David Cummings of the University of Washington was one of 58 writers of a report calling for a new obesity definition. The report recently appeared in the publication The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

publication n. 出版物，刊物  

endocrinology n. 内分泌学

“The whole goal of this is to get a more precise definition so that we are targeting the people who actually need the help most,” Cummings told The Associated Press.

(Q2) The report introduces two new groups, called categories, to help doctors identify, or diagnose, obese individuals. These are clinical obesity and pre-clinical obesity.

People with clinical obesity meet BMI and other markers of obesity. They also have evidence of organ, tissue or other problems caused by too much weight. Such evidence could include heart disease, high blood pressure, liver or kidney disease or ongoing knee or hip pain.

kidney n. 肾脏  

People identified as having clinical obesity would be able to get treatments, including diet and exercise programs, as well as obesity medications.

medication n. 药物治疗，药物

People with pre-clinical obesity are at risk for the same conditions, but they have no ongoing illness, the report states.

BMI has long been considered a weak measure for obesity. In some cases, it can incorrectly diagnose obesity, which is currently defined as a BMI of 30 or more.

But people with too much body fat do not always have a BMI above 30, the report notes. (Q3) And people with a high level of muscle mass — such as American football players or other athletes — may have a high BMI even with normal fat mass.

Under the new definitions, about 20 percent of people who used to be identified as obese would no longer meet that definition, early data suggests. And about 20 percent of people with serious health effects — but a lower BMI — would now be considered clinically obese.

Cummings said the new definition would not greatly change the percentage of people defined as having obesity. But, he explained, the new categories “would better diagnose the people who really have clinically excess fat.”

More than 75 medical organizations around the world have supported the new definitions. But it is not clear how widely or quickly the definitions could be approved. The report predicts such changes would carry big costs and have major effects on the workforce.

Dr. Katherine Saunders is an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. She also co-founded the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. She told the AP there are some practical issues to consider in order to make the proposed changes work effectively.

effectively adv. 有效地

(Q4) Saunders noted that waist circumference sounds simple, but measurement methods differ. In addition, doctors are trained differently, and standard medical measuring devices are not big enough for many obese people.

circumference n. 周长

Also, a decision about the difference between clinical and pre-clinical obesity would require a full health examination and lab tests, Saunders said. She added that for a new system to be widely accepted, “it would also need to be extremely quick, inexpensive, and reliable.”

The new definitions could also be difficult for people to understand or carry out, said Kate Bauer of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. (Q5) “The public likes and needs simple messages. I don’t think this differentiation is going to change anything,” she said.

differentiation n. 区分，区别  

Dr. Robert Kushner, of the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, said changing the definition of obesity will take some time. Kushner, a co-writer of the report, said, “This is the first step in the process. I think it’s going to begin the conversation.”

Part III. KEY

Q1.A.【解析】主旨题。根据整篇文章，尤其是“The new proposal shifts attention from a highly debated method called the body mass index (BMI)... The method would be expanded to include other measurements, such as waist size, and other evidence of health problems linked to being overweight.”，可知国际专家提出了肥胖定义与识别的新方法，强调将注意力从有争议的BMI方法转移，并且引入腰围、肥胖相关健康问题等指标；后文也详细说明了BMI的局限性。因此A正确。  

Q2.B.【解析】细节题。根据“The report introduces two new groups, called categories, to help doctors identify, or diagnose, obese individuals. These are clinical obesity and pre-clinical obesity.”，可知新定义的核心创新点是引入了两个新类别，临床肥胖和预临床肥胖，用于帮助医生识别或诊断肥胖患者。因此B正确。  

Q3. A.【解析】细节题。根据“And people with a high level of muscle mass — such as American football players or other athletes — may have a high BMI even with normal fat mass.”，可知肌肉含量高的人，例如美式橄榄球运动员或其他运动员，即使脂肪含量正常，BMI也可能很高，也就是说BMI无法区分身体成分差异，比如肌肉量和脂肪量。因此A正确。  

Q4. C.【解析】细节题。根据“Saunders noted that waist circumference sounds simple, but measurement methods differ.”，可知Saunders指出，腰围测量听起来简单，但测量方法存在差异，缺乏统一标准。因此C正确。

Q5.D.【解析】推理题。根据“The public likes and needs simple messages. I don’t think this differentiation is going to change anything,” she said.”，可知公众喜欢并需要简单的信息。Bauer认为这种区分不会改变任何事情。因此可以推断，新定义的复杂性可能难以被公众理解和接受，因此D正确。

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