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  3. A recent study in the United States reports that the family life, education

A recent study in the United States reports that the family life, education

游客2024-01-02  26
问题     A recent study in the United States reports that the family life, education and health of America’s children are generally improving, though child poverty has risen for the first time in a decade, according to the government’s broadest measure of children’s well-being.
    The report shows that the teenage birth rate is down, young people are less likely to be involved in violent crimes and the death rate for this group has declined.
    Experts say that teenagers who give birth are less likely to finish high school or to graduate from college than other girls of their age. Also, infants born to teenage mothers are more likely to be of low birth weight, which increases their chances of blindness, deafness, mental retardation, mental illness and cerebral palsy.
    The study shows that young people were less likely to be victimized in a serious violent crime — murder, rape, robbery or aggravated assault — or to commit one. In 2002, there were 11 serious violent crimes per 1,000 people aged 12 to 17, compared with 15 per 1,000 youths in 2001.
    Child mortality declined, too. In 2000, there were 18 deaths for every 100, 000 children aged 5 to 14; a year later, there were 17 deaths for every 100,000 children in this age group. The infant mortality rate slightly increased. Seven of every 1,000 infants died before their first birthday in 2002, compared with a record low of 6. 8 per 1,000 in 2001.
    Still, children are more likely to be overweight than they were before and child poverty has inched up after several years of decline.
    The number of overweight children increased to 16 percent between 1999 and 2000, compared with from 11 percent in the early 1990s and 6 percent in the late 1970s.
    That development "jeopardizes our children’s future, making them vulnerable to chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension previously associated more with adults than with children," said Edward J. Sondik, director of the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics.
    The report said Mexican-American boys were at the highest risk, with 27 percent overweight followed by non-Hispanic girls at 23 percent.
    The child obesity issue is a major cause for concern, a health expert said to reporters.
    "This is a trend that’s been at work since 1980... and as a trend, it shows no sign of reversing," the expert said.
    Child poverty also grew, reaching 11. 6 million in 2002, compared with 11. 2 million a year earlier. Children living with single females continued to experience a higher poverty rate in 2002 than their counterparts in married-couple families — 40 percent compared with 9 percent.
    In 2002, 73 million children under 18 lived in the United States and made up 25 percent of the population.
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答案     据美国一项最新研究报告说，按照美国政府关于少年儿童福利的最低标准，尽管少年儿童贫困率在近十年里首次出现上升势头，但是美国少年儿童的家庭生活、教育以及健康状况普遍得到了改善。
    这项研究显示，少年儿童生育率、涉及少年儿童的暴力犯罪率以及少年儿童死亡率都有所下降。
    专家们指出，跟别的同龄女性比，少年妈妈完不成中学或大学学业的可能性更大，而且由少年妈妈生产的婴儿多有体重偏低者，而体重偏低的婴儿更容易患失明、聋哑、精神发育不全、精神病和大脑性麻痹症。
    研究表明，少年儿童成为谋杀、强奸、抢劫或加重恐吓行为等严重暴力犯罪的受害者或从事此类犯罪的人数有所下降。2002年，年龄在12一17岁的未成年人中涉及严重暴力犯罪的比例是11起/1 000人，而2001年则是15起/1 000人。
    少年儿童死亡率也有所下降。2000年，年龄在5一14岁的儿童死亡率为18／100000，到2001年则下降为17／100 000。但婴儿死亡率稍有上升。2002年，未满周岁儿童死亡率是7／1 000，超过了2001年的历史最低点6，8／1000。
    不过，少年儿童肥胖症较之以前有所增加，而且过去几年呈下降趋势的少年儿童贫困率开始抬头。
    少年儿童肥胖人数，从1970年代末的6％和1990年代初的11％，增加到1999年到2000年之间的16％。
    疾病控制中心下属的全国健康统计中心主任爱德华J?桑迪克说，这种状况“会危及孩子们未来的发展，因为肥胖容易引发像糖尿病和高血压这样的慢性疾病，而以前这些疾病以成人患者居多。”
    报告显示，墨西哥裔男孩患肥胖症的比例最高，达到27％，其次是非西班牙(或墨西哥)裔女孩，达到23％。
    一位健康专家对记者说，儿童肥胖问题应当引起人们的关注。这位专家说，“从1980年来，这种情况早已成为一种趋势……而且现在并没有任何逆转的迹象。”
    此外，少年儿童贫困人数也有所增加，2002年达到1160万，而2001年是1120万。2002年，与单身母亲生活在一起的少年儿童，继续保持高于生活在婚姻家庭中的少年儿童贫困率——前者为40％，后者为9％。)
    2002年，美国18岁以下未成年人数为7300万，占全国总人口的25％。
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