Unit 9 OBESITY TASK 1 SPEAKING A) What causes obesity and overweight? Explain the role of these factors: increasing urbanization, marketing, education, nature of many forms of work, new modes of transportation, food processing, poverty... B) Do you agree with the following statements? Why? Why not? 1. Fat is necessary and performs many functions in the body. Thinking of it as 'evil' is a misconception. 2. Obese children are often depressed. 3. Obsessing over a child's eating habits or size may make them more unhappy. 4. Yo-yo dieting leads nowhere and may be damaging. Long-term change needs long-term attention. 5. Improving someone's body image builds confidence and increases results. Unrealistic expectations are counter-productive. 6. It´s not necessary to change our lifestyle to lose weight because new drugs are being developed that may give greater weight loss with fewer side effects. TASK 2 READING What two measures of overweight and obesity are described below? Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Fat functions as an energy reservoir. It is laid down when food is plentiful and then converted back to energy when needed. Normal levels of fat are not a problem for the body. In fact, they're necessary for it to function smoothly. On a basic level, people become obese when their calorie intake is higher than their calorie expenditure. However, a host of factors complicate this picture. An individual's genetics, metabolism, culture and lifestyle all have a role to play. 1 ______________ _______________ is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used in classifying overweight and obesity in adult populations and individuals. It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2). __________ provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered as a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different individuals. _______overestimates body fat in persons who are very muscular, and it can underestimate body fat in persons who have lost body mass (e.g. many elderly). 2 ________________ Excess weight is not the only risk to your health. So is the location of fat on your body. If you carry fat mainly around your waist, you are more likely to develop health problems than if you carry fat mainly in your hips and thighs. This is true even if your BMI falls within the normal range. Women with a waist measurement of more than 89 cm or men with a waist measurement of more than 102 cm may have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies. TASK 3 SPEAKING Risks of obesity If you're obese, you're more likely to develop a number of potentially serious health problems. These may include: High blood pressure Diabetes Coronary artery disease Stroke Osteoarthritis Sleep apnea Cancer Choose one of the conditions above and describe the pathway through which obesity can affect or cause the given condition. TASK 4 Reading HEALTHY AT EVERY SIZE – NEW HOPE FOR OBESE PEOPLE? The “Every Size” strategy, a health-centered rather than weight-centered program, may help chronic dieters reshape their thinking, shed unhealthy habits, adopt new patterns of eating, become more physically active, and increase their self-esteem. “Chronic dieters are those who either have failed at a sequence of diets, or, after successfully losing weight, gain back the pounds, and start the dieting cycle all over again” explains physiologist Marta D. Van Loan. “For obese folks who can’t find a healthful weight-loss regimen that gives them lasting results, this alternative to conventional dieting may offer greater and more sustainable improvements to several key indicators of their health.” Every Size clients learn how to build their self-esteem; recognize and follow the body’s natural, internal cues to hunger and satiety (a feeling of fullness); make healthy choices at mealtimes and in between; and enjoy some form of physical activity—an approach that’s different from exercising mainly to lose weight. Question: Do you think this strategy will have better results than traditional weight-loss programmes? GRAMMAR: Conditional The Type 1 conditional If + simple present If I stop smoking, If she takes up jogging, Simple future I will gain weight. she will get fit. In these sentences, the time is the present or future and the situation is real. They refer to a possible condition and its probable result. The same thing happens after while / before / after / as soon as / until or till: I´m going to read a lot while I´m on holiday. I´ll go back home on Sunday. Before I go, I´d like to visit the museum. Wait here until I come back. The Type 2 conditional, where the tense in the 'if' clause is the simple past, and the tense in the main clause is the present conditional: If + simple past If I stopped smoking, If you went to bed earlier, Present conditional I would gain weight. you wouldn't be so tired. In these sentences, the time is now or any time, and the situation is unreal. They are not based on fact, and they refer to an unlikely or hypothetical condition and its probable result. In the other part of the sentence (not the if-part) we use would/ wouldn´t. Could and might are also possible: If you took more exercise, you might feel better. If it stopped raining, we could go out. Exercise Complete the sentences: 1. If she ___________________, she will win the tournament. 2. I will cook a big dinner when ______________________ . 3. If I have time tonight, I ____________________________ . 4. He will look much better when he____________________ . 5. If he ____________________, he wouldn´t be ill so often. 6. If I lived in the country, I ___________________________ . 7. There wouldn´t be so many overweight people if __________________ .