VOA慢速英語:Children Who Drink Lots of Soft Drinks More Likely to Be Aggressive

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

A new study has found evidence of aggressive behavior in children who drink four or more servings of soft drinks every day. Information for the study came from the mothers of 3,000 5-year-olds.

一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)了每天喝4杯以上軟飲料的兒童的攻擊行為的證據(jù)。該研究的資料來自于3000位5歲孩子的母親。

Researchers asked the women to keep a record of how many servings of soft drinks their children drank over a two-month period. The women were also asked to complete a checklist of their children's behavior.

研究人員要求這些母親在為期兩個月的時間內記錄她們的孩子喝了多少杯軟飲料。她們還被要求完成一份關于自己孩子行為的記錄。

The researchers found that 43 percent of the boys and girls drank at least one daily serving of soda, 4 percent of the youngsters had four or more sodas to drink every day.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，43%的兒童至少每天喝了一杯蘇打水，4%的兒童每天喝了4杯以上蘇打水。

Shakira Suglia is with Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. She worked on the study with researchers from the University of Vermont and Harvard University School of Public Health. She says they found that children who drank the most soda were more than two times as likely as those who drank no soda to show signs of aggression.

夏奇拉·蘇格麗雅(Shakira Suglia)就職于紐約市哥倫比亞大學梅爾曼公共衛(wèi)生學院。她和來自于佛蒙特大學和哈佛大學公共衛(wèi)生學院的研究人員一起合作。她說她們發(fā)現(xiàn)喝很多蘇打水的兒童顯示出來的攻擊跡象是不喝蘇打水的兒童的兩倍以上。

"For the children who consumed four or more soft drinks per day, we see an association between aggressive behaviors, attention problems and withdrawn behaviors."

她說，“在這些每天喝4杯以上軟飲料的孩子中，我們看到了攻擊行為、注意力問題和退縮行為之間的關聯(lián)。”

The aggressive behavior included destroying possessions belonging to others, taking part in fights and physically attacking people.

這些攻擊行為包括破壞屬于他們的財產，參與打架和身體攻擊他人。

Shakira Suglia says the researchers identified the link after they considered socio-demographic factors like the child's age and sex. They also considered other possible influence, such as whether the boys and girls were eating sweets or giving fruit drinks on a normal day. In addition, the researchers examined parenting styles and other social conditions that might be taking place in the home.

蘇格麗雅表示，研究人員在仔細考慮了像兒童年齡和性別之類的社會人口因素后確定了這一聯(lián)系。他們還考慮了其它可能的影響，如孩子們平時是否吃甜食或喝果汁飲料。此外，研究人員還調查了父母教養(yǎng)方式和家里可能出現(xiàn)的其它社會因素。

Doctor Suglia says it's not clear why young children who drink a lot of soda have behavior problem.

蘇格麗雅博士表示，目前尚不清楚為什么喝了很多蘇打水的小孩子存在行為問題。

"We can't prove that this is a direct cause and effect relationship, having said that, there are a lot of ingredients in soda, a lot of ingredients that have not been examined in relation to behavior."

她說，“我們不能證實這是一種直接的因果關系。話說回來，蘇打水中還有很多成分在行為相關性上尚未進行調查。”

A substance often found in soft drinks is caffeine, which helps to make people feel energized.

軟飲料中經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)的一種物質是咖啡因，它能使人感覺精力充沛。

Doctor Suglia suggests that caffeine could be causing the 5-year-olds to be more aggressive. The research is part of a large study called the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, it follows 5,000 poor mothers and their children in 20 American cities.

蘇格麗雅博士認為，咖啡因可能會造成這些5歲孩子更具攻擊性。該研究是一項被稱為《脆弱家庭和兒童福祉》的大型研究的一部分，該研究跟蹤調查了美國20個城市的5000位貧困母親及其孩子。

Earlier studies of young adults have found the highest sugar levels in those who carry weapons and show signs of negative social behaviors.

早前針對青壯年的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，攜帶武器和具備負面社會行為跡象的人血糖水平最高。