HEALTH PROBLEMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE

1. Nowadays people are more health-conscious than they used to be. They understand that good health is above wealth. To be healthy we should avoid different bad habits that can affect our health.

2. Smoking and drinking too much alcohol are the worst ones. It is common knowledge that smoking and drinking can shorten our lives dramatically. Smoking, for example, can cause a number of diseases, such as pneumonia, emphysema and cancer. Besides, it makes your teeth yellow and skin unhealthy. Fortunately, in recent years smoking has received a lot of bad publicity, and fewer people smoke nowadays. Some companies do not employ people who are smokers. Smoking has been banned in most public places because everyone agrees it does harm to our health.

3. Alcohol, especially beer, drunk by teenagers several times a week or even everyday, is a serious problem. The facts are that it is really easy to get addicted to an alcoholic drink and twice as easy if you are not completely adult, and beer is known as one of the most addicted alcoholic drinks. There are millions of beer alcoholism cases. And what is most unpleasant for us to know that lots of them are dealt with young people.

4. Smoking and drinking are accompanied with less dangerous habits, such as skipping meats, eating unhealthy food, or even overeating. Of course, they are not quite as deadly as smoking or drinking alcohol, but they also affect our health.

If we eat too much, we will become obese and obesity leads to serious health problems. A lot of young people like drinking coca-cola and coffee, enjoy pizzas and hamburgers. But what is tasty is not always healthy. Fast food makes you fat. In recent years the fashion of healthy food is growing all the time.

Many people feel they are too fat, even if their doctors disagree. And they try to improve their fitness. There are a lot of ways to lose weight and avoid gaining it. Perhaps the most popular of them is following a diet. If you want to lose weight you should cut out snacks and deserts and cut down fats. People have also become more aware of calories, the energy value of food. Some people count the number of calories they eat every day, so that they can try to take in fewer calories and lose weight. This is called a calorie-controlled diet. Manufactures are increasingly producing special foods with fewer calories for slimmers.

But excessive dieting may be dangerous, too. Some people refuse to eat meat as they consider it is harmful. They say a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of cancer and vegetarians live longer than others, we cannot agree with them because meat is an excellent source of good nutrition. It is wrong to put down a food simply because excessive amounts can cause health problems. Consumed in moderate amounts meat is perfectly good for our health.

5. To my mind, the only way to stay healthy and to keep fit is to go in for sports. Among the benefits of regular exercises there are such as a healthier heart, stronger bones, quicker reaction time and being more resistant to various diseases. Besides, you can eat and drink as much as you want because you are burning it all off.

6. But it should be mentioned that one of the main youth problems nowadays is drug abuse. The institute of social research at the Russian Government Academy has carried out a detailed survey to determine public attitudes and experts' opinions towards drug taking and drug users. The results of this research were not encouraging — the age of drug users is falling. Experts in this field consider that the highest risk category is school and university students. The accuracy of this assessment is confirmed by answers to the question: «Where is it easiest to get hold of drugs?" While the experts and relatives of drug users stated: «Mainly at markets, and then discotheques and parties for the young, and finally, in the drug pushers' flats,» teenagers gave the more accurate reply that it was firstly at the drug pushers' flats, then parties, and finally, markets. All of them said that drugs are most readily available. Incidentally, almost none of the teenagers mentioned the mass media as a source of information on the dangers of drug abuse. They get their information from their peers (80 percent), or from knowing adults.

Absolute majority of experts believes that the present situation with drug abuse is the result of a decline in morals and culture, and also of the poor work of the health protection agencies and the explosion in crime. Both groups say the main reasons for a partiality towards drugs is the influence of friends who are already drug users, lack of interesting work, boredom and nothing to do, and finally, too much money. About one third of teenagers are strongly negative in their attitude to drug-taking among their peers: "It is a serious illness warranting compulsory treatment. Then about another third are completely loyal: «It is a stupid habit like smoking or alcohol. They grow up and give up.» By contrast, relatives of drug takers have already learnt from bitter experience that if a member of one's family shows signs of drug addiction, one should immediately seek specialist’s help.

c) Find in the text and complete the sentences:

1. It should be mentioned …

2. To my mind …

3. It is wrong to …

4. Absolute majority of experts believes that …

5. It is common knowledge that …

6. The facts are that …

7. All of them said that …

8. By contrast, …

9. Incidentally, almost none of …

10. Among the benefits of …

11. There are a lot of ways to …

12. Experts in this field consider that …

d) Fill in the blanks with prepositions where necessary:

1. The institute of social research has carried … a detailed survey.

2. Smoking has been banned … most public places.

3. A vegetarian diet reduces the risk … cancer.

4. The accuracy of this assessment is confirmed … their answers.

5. Consumed … moderate amounts meat is perfectly good … our health.

Exercise 3. Agree or disagree to the following statements. If you do not agree express your own opinion. If you agree prove the idea.

1. Fewer people smoke nowadays.

2. The present situation with drug abuse is the result of a decline in morals and culture.

3. Excessive dieting may be dangerous.

4. What is tasty is not always healthy.

5. There are millions of beer alcoholism cases.

6. Some companies do not employ people who are smokers.

Exercise 4.Translate the sentences from Russian into English:

1. Мы должны понимать, что наркотики стали серьезной проблемой среди молодежи.

2. Занятия спортом смогут помочь вам стать здоровыми.

3. Важная информация о вреде курения будет рассказана на собрании.

4. Мы только что прочитали об одной модной диете, разработанной для молодежи.

5. Статья, переведенная с английского языка, содержала новейшие данные о пивном алкоголизме среди молодежи.

Exercise 5.Discuss the most important health problems of young people with your group mates; add the health problems which you consider to be important for you and your friends in our region. Speak about one of them.

UNIT 3

Exercise 1.

a) Read the text and say if you agree or disagree with the author. Use such words and word combinations as In my opinion As for me, I believe, I hope, I fully(completely, entirely) agree that, I can’t agree to the idea that, Unfortunately, No doubt that, The fact is that, etc:

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