Reading report

Name: Cristina Soledad Guzmán
Date: September 17
Title: Food for thought
Source: www.economist.com/index Date of publication: Sep 13th 2007

Vocabulary

Junk: junk food n. 1. Prepackaged snack foods high in calories but low in nutritional value.
Placebo: 1. A substance containing no medication, administered for its psychological effect on a patient. 2. An inactive substance used as a control in an experiment.
Carmiosine:
Tartrazine:
Ponceau:
Ditching: 2. To dig or make a ditch. 3. To drive (a vehicle) into a ditch. 4. Slang. To discard. 5. To crash-land on water.
Dye: 1. A substance used to color materials. Also called dyestuff. 2. A color imparted by dyeing.
Itching: 1. A skin sensation causing a desire to scratch. 2. A skin disorder marked by intense irritation and itching. 3. A restless desire or craving.
Concoction: 1. To prepare by mixing ingredients. 2. To devise.
Quinoline:
Allura:
Quaffing: 1. To drink heartily.
Downing: 18. To bring, put, strike, or throw down. 19. To swallow hastily. 20. Hostile toward.
Behest: 1. An authoritative command. 2. An urgent request.
Offspring: 1. Progeny; young. 2. A result; product.

Main ideas

¨ It is complicated to find out which are the effects of junk food oon children.
¨ In a study some parents reported a deterioration in the behaviour of hyperactive children but independent observers noticed no difference.
¨ The second test was made using different cocktails of additives as well as placebo drink that contained no food colourings or preservatives.
¨ The researchers tested two drinks to mimic more closely what an average child might reasonably consume every day.
¨ The diets of 150 children were changed so they contained no food colouring or preservatives and then some where assigned to drink one of the two cocktails during 3 or 5 weeks.
¨ The researches asked parents and teachers to assess the children`s behaviour.
¨ Children quaffing the cocktail containing tartrazine were less well behaved than those who had been downing the placebo. The results for the second concoction were less clear.
¨ British Government recommends that parents of children who show signs of hyperactivity should consider cutting some artificial colours from their diets.
¨ Medic suspect that the hyperactivity is at least partly genetic.

Personal reaction

This article is about a research done in U.k. to measure the possible effects of food that contains colouring or preservatives in the behaviour of hyperactive children.
The results were not clear for many of the children involved. So the government warned parents about the possible effects of these components in their children`s behaviour. But at the same time doctors clarified that these problems in their behaviour may be the consequence of a genetic condition.
The most important is the fact that in those countries medical research is so advanced that they are constantly investigating the cure or treatment for many health problems that affect more commonly to their society in order to improve their life style and the life style of future generations as well.