Pre-reading questions:
- Do you like drinking sweet drinks? Why or why not?
- Which do you prefer, sodas or fruit juices? Please explain your answer.
Vocabulary:
- survey /ser-VEY/
- observe /uhb-ZURV/
- period /PEER-ee-uhd/
- state /steyt/
- reduce /ri-DOOS/
[noun] an examination of opinions and behavior made by asking people questions
A survey shows that many businessmen skip lunch everyday.
[verb] to watch carefully the way something happens
The doctor continued to observe the patient’s behavior.
[noun] a length of time
The World War II was a difficult period in Japanese history.
[verb] to say or write something
The witness just stated the facts about the ongoing case.
[verb] to become or to make something become smaller in size, amount, degree, importance
James reduced the speed of his car because there was an old woman passing by.
A new study found that drinking a small glass of sugar-sweetened beverages per day could lead to different types of cancer. A group of researchers asked 100,000 French adults to answer the survey forms about the food and drinks that they consumed every day. The team observed the respondents for more than 9 years. During the study period, a total of 2,193 cases of cancer were seen through medical records and health databases. At the age of 59, 693 participants were determined to have breast cancer, 291 with prostate cancer, and 166 with colorectal cancer.
Risk factors of cancer like educational background, history of cancer in the family and smoking habits were also considered in the study. As reported by Ian Johnson, a nutrition expert, “The results indicate statistically significant correlations between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and risk of all cancers combined, and of breast cancer.” Mathilde Touvier, the lead author of the study, stated “What we observed was that the main driver of the association seems to be really the sugar contained in these sugary drinks.” She recommended that people should be aware of public health guidelines that reduce sugary drinks consumption to at least one glass a day.
Risk factors of cancer like educational background, history of cancer in the family and smoking habits were also considered in the study. As reported by Ian Johnson, a nutrition expert, “The results indicate statistically significant correlations between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and risk of all cancers combined, and of breast cancer.” Mathilde Touvier, the lead author of the study, stated “What we observed was that the main driver of the association seems to be really the sugar contained in these sugary drinks.” She recommended that people should be aware of public health guidelines that reduce sugary drinks consumption to at least one glass a day.
Comprehension Questions:
- What did the study find about sugar-sweetened beverages based on the article?
- How many participants were involved in the research?
- How many years did the researchers observe the respondents according to the article?
- Based on the result of the study, how many cases of cancer were reported?
- What did Mathilde Touvier recommend about the consumption of sugary drinks?
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think drinking sugary drinks can be really bad to one’s health? Why or why not?
- How often do you drink sodas and juices? If not, what do you usually drink and why?
- Do you always follow all public health guidelines that you are aware of? Why or why not?
- What do you think people should do to avoid diseases?
- Do you consider yourself to be healthy? Elaborate your answer.