Leading doctors today weigh in on the debate over the government’s role in promoting public health by demanding that ministers impose "fat taxes" on unhealthy food and introduce cigarette-style warnings to children about the dangers of a poor diet.
The demands follow comments made last week by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, who insisted the government could not force people to make healthy choices and promised to free businesses from public health regulations.
But senior medical figures want to stop fast-food outlets opening near schools, restrict advertising of products high in fat, salt or sugar, and limit sponsorship of sports events by fast-food products such as McDonald’s.
They argue that government action is necessary to curb Britain’s addiction to unhealthy food and help halt spiraling rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
A. "fat taxes" should be imposed on fast-food producers such as McDonald’s.
B. The government should ban fast-food outlets in the neighborhood of schools.
C. "lecturing" was an effective way to improve school lunches in England.
D. cigarette-style warnings should be introduced to children about the dangers of a poor diet.
E. The producers of crisps and candies could contribute significantly to the Change4Life campaign.
F. parents should set good examples for their children by keeping a healthy diet at home.
G. the government should strengthen the sense of responsibility among businesses.
The death rate from influenza rose markedly in the 1990’s, federal scientists reported. The explanation, they said, is that a greater proportion of the population is elderly and thus particularly susceptible to flu. There was an average of 36,000 flu deaths a year in the 1990’s as compared to 20,000 a year in previous decades, the investigators, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Ninety percent of influenza deaths were in people 65 and older, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the principal researcher for the study. But Dr. Fukuda and his colleagues reported that the virus was especially deadly in people over 85, who might be up to 32 times more likely than those 65 to 69 to die from a flu infection.
The researchers also concluded that there were large numbers of deaths among the elderly from another virus, respiratory syncytial virus, known as R. S. V. As many as 78 percent of the 11,000 peopl
A. 20,000
B. 26,000
C. 30,000
D. 36,000
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