Inactivity is, of course, widespread among young people today. Recent research shows that in the United States and Europe, physical activity tends to peak at about age 7 for both boys and girls and tail off continually throughout adolescence. More than two-thirds of children in the United States rarely exercise at all.
The immediate health consequences for inactive children and their families are worrisome. Childhood obesity, which is linked to lack of exercise, is common, as is the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and other health problems related to being overweight among children as young as 6.
But the long-term financial costs of inactivity in the young, both for them and society as a whole, have never been quantified. So for the new study, which was published this week in Health Affairs, researchers with the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and other institutions decided to create a bogglingly complex computer model of what the future could look like if we do or do not get more of our children moving.
The researchers began by gathering as much public data as is currently available about the health, weight and physical activity patterns of all 31.7 million American children now aged 8 to 11, using large-scale databases from the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other groups.
The researchers fed this information into a computerized modeling program that created an electronic avatar for every American child today. In line with reality, two-thirds of these children were programmed to rarely exercise and many were overweight or obese.
The scientists then had the simulated children grow up. Using estimations about how calorie intake and activity patterns affect body weight, the program changed each virtual child’s body day-by-day and year-by-year into adulthood. Most became increasingly overweight.
As the simulated children became adults, the scientists then modeled each one’s health, based on obesity-associated risks for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer, and also the probable financial price of dealing with those diseases (adjusted for future inflation), both in terms of direct expenses for hospitalizations, drugs and so on, and lost productivity because of someone’s being ill.
The results were staggering. According to the computer model, the costs of today’s 8- to 11-year-olds being inactive and consequently overweight would be almost $3 trillion in medical expenses and lost productivity every year once the children reached adulthood and for decades until their deaths.
But when the researchers tweaked children’s activity levels within their model, the numbers began to look quite different. If they presumed that, in an imaginary America, half of all children exercised vigorously for about 25 minutes three times a week, such as during active recess or sports or, more ambitiously, ran around and moved for at least an hour every day, which is the amount of youth exercise recommended by the C.D.C., their virtual lives were transformed.
Most obviously, the incidence of childhood obesity fell by more than 4 percent, a change that resonated throughout the simulated children’s lives and society. There were about half a million fewer cases of adult-onset heart disease, diabetes, cancer and strokes in this simulation, and the society-wide costs associated with these illnesses dropped by about $32 billion every year if the children romped about for 25 minutes three times per week and by almost $37 billion if they moved for an hour every day.
The impacts were even more substantial when the researchers assumed that 100 percent of the children who are now sedentary got regular exercise. In this scenario, the annual total costs during adulthood from obesity-associated medical expenses and lost productivity plummeted by about $62 billion when children were active three times a week and by more than $120 billion every year when all of the virtual children played and moved for at least an hour each day.
From: https://www.nytimes.com May 3, 2017
01 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
As to how physically active American and European children are, recent studies show that
A) they are usually involved in more physical activities from age 7 on.
B) most of them only become interested in physical exercise in their late adolescence.
C) boys and girls have a significantly different behavior when it comes to physical activities.
D) both boys and girls seem to have the maximum of physical activities around age seven.
Quanto ao quão ativo fisicamente crianças americanas e europeias são, estudos recentes mostram que
•Afirmativa (A): eles geralmente estão envolvidos em mais atividades físicas a partir dos 7 anos de idade.
•Afirmativa (B): a maioria deles só se interessa pelo exercício físico no final da adolescência.
•Afirmativa (C): meninos e meninas têm um comportamento significativamente diferente quando se trata de atividades físicas.
•Afirmativa (D): meninos e meninas parecem ter o máximo de atividades físicas por volta dos sete anos.
02 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
According to the text, the lack of exercise in childhood years is associated with very early health problems such as
A) obesity and type 2 diabetes.
B) heart conditions and respiratory diseases.
C) cancer and depression.
D) diabetes and lungs conditions.
De acordo com o texto, a falta de exercício nos anos da infância está associada a problemas de saúde muito precoces, como
•Afirmativa (A): obesidade e diabetes tipo 2.
•Afirmativa (B): condições cardíacas e doenças respiratórias.
•Afirmativa (C): câncer e depressão.
•Afirmativa (D): diabetes e condições pulmonares.
03 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
In terms of the future financial costs for individuals and the society as a result of inactivity in young people, it is mentioned that they
A) have been the subject of many studies and public policies.
B) had not been calculated before this new study mentioned in the text.
C) have always been a concern in the academic world.
D) were carefully analyzed by some European countries.
Em termos dos custos financeiros futuros para os indivíduos e para a sociedade, como resultado da inatividade nos jovens, é mencionado que eles
•Afirmativa (A): tem sido objeto de muitos estudos e políticas públicas.
•Afirmativa (B): não havia sido calculado antes deste novo estudo mencionado no texto.
•Afirmativa (C): sempre foram uma preocupação no mundo acadêmico.
•Afirmativa (D): foram cuidadosamente analisados por alguns países europeus.
04 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
The new study conducted in the US linking the lack of children’s physical activity and the huge expenses in the coming years was carried out with data about children
A) who are in the age group 8 to 11.
B) whose parents are overweight.
C) whose families lead sedentary lives.
D) who never take part in sports.
O novo estudo realizado nos EUA, relacionando a falta de atividade física das crianças e as enormes despesas nos próximos anos, foi realizado com dados sobre crianças
•Afirmativa (A): que estão na faixa etária de 8 a 11 anos.
•Afirmativa (B): cujos pais estão acima do peso.
•Afirmativa (C): cujas famílias levam vidas sedentárias.
•Afirmativa (D): que nunca participam de esportes.
05 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
In terms of how the study was conducted, the text mentions that researchers used a computer program that made it possible for every child to be
A) analyzed according to different sets of influential factors.
B) isolated from their family context.
C) represented by an electronic avatar to simulate their growth.
D) grouped according to geographical criteria.
Em termos de como o estudo foi conduzido, o texto menciona que os pesquisadores usaram um programa de computador que tornou possível para cada criança ser
•Afirmativa (A): analisados de acordo com diferentes conjuntos de fatores influentes.
•Afirmativa (B): isolados do contexto familiar.
•Afirmativa (C): representado por um avatar eletrônico para simular seu crescimento.
•Afirmativa (D): agrupados segundo critérios geográficos.
06 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
According to the article, the researchers, taking into account the current reality of children in the US, fed the computer program with the information about the lack of exercising and the calorie intaking patterns and made the computer model go through the growing process year by year, thus revealing that these children
A) maintained quite a slow pace of development.
B) grew more and more overweight.
C) became adults who are healthy.
D) grew too fast in relation to other groups.
De acordo com o artigo, os pesquisadores, levando em conta a realidade atual das crianças nos EUA, alimentaram o programa de computador com informações sobre a falta de exercício e os padrões de consumo de calorias e fizeram o modelo computadorizado passar pelo processo de crescimento ano a ano. , revelando assim que essas crianças
•Afirmativa (A): mantiveram um ritmo bastante lento de desenvolvimento.
•Afirmativa (B): cresceram mais e mais com excesso de peso.
•Afirmativa (C): tornaram-se adultos saudáveis.
•Afirmativa (D): cresceram muito rápido em relação a outros grupos.
07 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
Still in terms of the electronic avatar research, the text mentions that, when scientists analyzed the grown up models (once the sedentary children), they got to the conclusion that they would
A) manage to lead quite a low profile lifestyle.
B) seldom have the chance to change their lifestyle.
C) probably die too soon.
D) cost some trillions of dollars to society.
Ainda em termos da pesquisa de avatar eletrônico, o texto menciona que, quando os cientistas analisaram os modelos adultos (outrora as crianças sedentárias), chegaram à conclusão de que ELES(modelos adultos)...
•Afirmativa (A): conseguem levar um estilo de vida bastante baixo perfil.
•Afirmativa (B): raramente têm a chance de mudar seu estilo de vida.
•Afirmativa (C): provavelmente morrerá cedo demais.
•Afirmativa (D): custaram alguns trilhões de dólares para a sociedade.
08 – (UECE-2017/2-VESTIBULAR-1ª FASE)
According to the findings of the research, another aspect related to the consequences of children’s sedentary lifestyle is the fact that when becoming adults they would also
A) lose productivity yearly until they die.
B) lose their jobs more frequently.
C) influence other relatives to keep inactive.
D) travel less than the once active children.
De acordo com os resultados da pesquisa, outro aspecto relacionado às conseqüências do estilo de vida sedentário das crianças é o fato de que, quando se tornam adultos, elas também
•Afirmativa (A): perdem a produtividade anualmente até morrerem.
•Afirmativa (B): perdem seus empregos com mais freqüência.
•Afirmativa (C): influenciam outros parentes a manterem-se inativos.
•Afirmativa (D): viajam menos que as crianças uma vez ativas.
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