铁和维生素D有利于婴儿健康

    This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

    Many people have low iron in their blood. But pregnant women need extra iron for their own health and their baby's health. Iron is important to the development of a baby's brain and central nervous system.
    许多人血液中含铁量偏低。但孕妇为了自身和胎儿健康需要额外的铁。铁对胎儿大脑和中枢神经系统发育非常重要。

    In poor countries, however, providing all pregnant women with iron supplements can be a financial issue. Some experts say giving supplements to babies after they are born is enough.
    然而在贫穷国家,为所有孕妇提供铁质补充剂可能存在财务困难。一些专家称,在孩子出生后补铁就够了。

    Someone who disagrees is Parul Christian, a nutritionist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Maryland. She and other scientists have been doing research in Nepal. She says their latest findings should settle any question about the value of making sure every pregnant woman receives iron supplements.
    美国马里兰州约翰霍普金斯大学的营养学家帕茹儿·克里斯蒂安(Parul Christian)不同意这种说法。她和其他科学家一直在尼泊尔进行研究。她说,她们最新的发现也许能解决和确保所有孕妇补铁的意义相关的任何问题。
     
    Iron is a micronutrient. Micronutrients are important substances that are found in small amounts in foods.
    铁是一种微量元素。微量元素是指在食品中发现的含量极少的重要物质。

    The researchers first completed a study among poor women in Nepal ten years ago. During pregnancy some of the women received supplements containing iron and another micronutrient, folic acid.
    研究人员在十年前首先在尼泊尔贫困妇女中完成了一项研究。其中部分妇女在孕期服用了包含铁和另一种微量元素叶酸的补充剂。

    Professor Christian says that study showed the supplements could improve child survival.
    克里斯蒂安教授说,研究表明,这种补充剂可以提高儿童存活率。

    Now the children are older. The researchers returned to Nepal and tested their neurological development. They found improved intellectual and fine motor abilities among those whose mothers had received iron and folic acid during pregnancy and for three months after.
    现在孩子长大了,研究人员返回尼泊尔测试他们的神经发育。他们发现,在孕期及产后三个月补充了铁和叶酸的妈妈生下的孩子智力发育和运动能力都有所改善。

    The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
    这一发现刊登在美国医学会杂志上。

    Another new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, looks at levels of vitamin D in babies. It says newborns with the lowest levels were twice as likely to develop respiratory infections as those with normal levels of vitamin D.
    另一项新的研究发表在儿科杂志上,着眼于婴儿维生素D含量水平。该研究称,维生素D含量低的新生儿与含量正常的新生儿相比,患呼吸道感染的可能性要高出2倍。

    Vitamin D helps build strong bones and strengthens the body's defenses against disease. The vitamin is commonly added to cow's milk and also found in supplements. But vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin. The body naturally produces it from sunlight.
    维生素D有助于强健骨骼,提高身体免疫力。这种维生素通常添加在牛奶和其它补充剂中。但维生素D也被称为阳光维生素,人体可以从阳光中自然合成维生素D。

    Carlos Camargo from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts and other researchers did the study. It followed more than nine hundred children in New Zealand until they were five years old.
    马萨诸塞州哈佛医学院的卡洛斯·卡马戈(Carlos Camargo)和其他研究人员进行了这项研究。他们对超过900名新西兰儿童进行了跟踪研究,直到他们年满5岁。

    CARLOS CAMARGO: "And what we found was that children who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had a high risk of developing infections and wheezing throughout childhood."
    卡马戈:“我们发现,在儿童时期,维生素D含量低的孩子存在感染和气喘的高风险。”

    He says the problem of vitamin D deficiency is not limited to countries with the least sun.
    他说,维生素D缺乏问题不仅仅限于发生在日照少的国家。

    CARLOS CAMARGO: "People are moving more and more indoors. And they work indoors. They play indoors. Everything's indoors. And so we're actually starting to see low levels of vitamin D in areas where the sun is plentiful."
    卡马戈:“人们越来越趋于室内,他们在室内工作、娱乐,什么都在室内进行。因此我们确实开始在阳光充足的地区发现维生素缺乏问题。”