Anglais médical - Tout sur l'obésité

Régulièrement, cette rubrique animée par Virginia Allum, auteur et consultante EMP (English for Medical Purposes), vous permettra, exercices à l'appui, de parfaire votre anglais médical au travers de situations de soins concrètes. Bon travail à tous !

N'hésitez pas à vous servir du dictionnaire en ligne Wordreference. Vous trouverez à la fin de cet article les corrections des exercices qui vous sont proposés téléchargeables au format pdf.

Activity 1 : What do you know about obesity?

Vocabulary : Obesity

Which of the following sentences do you think are true?

1. The BMI (body mass index) is usually only slightly raised in obese patients.
2. Obesity is an example of a childhood disease.
3. People who are obese have an excess of body fat.
4. Obese people just have a slow metabolism.
5. Obesity is a medical condition which has serious health consequences.
6. The waist-hip ratio describes how fat is distributed in the body.
7. Severely obese patients may need bariatric surgery to reduce their weight.
8. Obesity in children is increasing around the world.

Activity 2 : Nouns, verbs or adjectives

Put the following terms in the correct headings

• unhealthy
• evaluate
• waist
• overweight
• morbid
• fatty
• healthy
• assessment
• obesity
• be overweight
• morbidity
• assess
• evaluation
• health
• be obese
• obese
• weight
• body mass index
• body fat
• circumference

• Noun : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• Verb : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• Adjective : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Activity 3

Read the following article about obesity and complete the activities which follow.

Assessing obesity

Obesity is a term which describes a person who is very overweight and has an excessive amount of body fat. People who are obese risk developing serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, for example bowel cancer.

There are two common ways which are used to assess a person’s weight. One method is the BMI or body mass index. This uses a person’s weight in kilograms divided by their height in square metres. A BMI of between 25 and 29 indicates that a person is overweight but not obese. A BMI of between 30 and 40 is considered an indication of obesity. People with a BMI over 40 are described as being morbidly obese.

The second method of assessing obesity is by measuring the circumference of the waist. This is used to calculate the ratio between the waist and the hips. Excessive amounts of fat around the waist place a lot of stress on the heart and increase the risk of heart attack. Men with very waists of over 94cm and women with waists of over 80cm are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems.

Answer the following questions

• 1. Obesity is a serious problem because it _______________________.
  • (a) causes cancer
  • (b) may lead to a person developing serious health issues
  • (c) makes people depressed
• 2. The body mass index is calculated using a patient’s ________________.
  • (a) weight and height
  • (b) weight and body fat
  • (c) height in square metres
• 3. A BMI of 35 indicates that a person is ________________.
  • (a) a normal weight
  • (b) underweight
  • (c) obese
• 4. A person’s _____________ measurement indicates the amount of excess body fat the person is carrying.
  • (a) hip
  • (b) waist
  • (c) ribs
• 5. Women should have a _____________ waist than men to be healthy.
  • (a) smaller
  • (b) small
  • (c) larger

Activity 4 : Talking about cause and result

What causes obesity?

The cause of most cases of obesity is the overconsumption of calories without an increase in exercise. Exercise is important because it results in the burning off of unused calories in the body. Calories which are not used by the body or burned up by exercise may be turned into fat.

Overeating is more prevalent these days because there is easy access to cheap, convenience foods which tend to be highly calorific. Weight gain may also result from a sedentary lifestyle at work and during leisure activities such as playing computer games. In addition, many people walk less than they used to, preferring to drive or use public transport instead which leads to reduced fitness and weight gain.

Obesity may also be caused by certain medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome. Recent studies also suggest that some cases of childhood obesity may result from genetic mutations.

Review the following expressions which are used to talk about cause and effect

Cause 

Results

Answer the questions about the causes and effects of obesity

1. What are the causes of most cases of obesity?
2. Why is exercise important for the body?
3. What is one result of a sedentary lifestyle?
4. What effect does walking less have on weight gain and fitness levels?
5. What other causes of obesity are there?

Activity 5 : Match the beginnings of the sentences with the correct endings

Activity 6 : Using prefixes

Put the words from the text (activity 5) in the correct headings

• Over- : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• Under- : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
• poly- : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Activity 7 : Talking about consequences

The relationship between obesity and illness

Look at the diagram above and complete the following information.

• increase
• lead
• result
• risk
• cause

Poor nutrition and lack of exercise  _____________ in excess fat in the body tissues.

Fatty deposits around the joints  ______________ joint pain especially around the knees.

Walking may be difficult and mobility is affected.

Excess fat around the abdomen can  ______________ to insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.

Fatty deposits in the tissues can cause heart disease and increase the  __________ of deep vein thrombosis or DVT.

Sleep apnoea is made worse by an  _______________ in fatty tissue around the neck. It causes an absence of breathing for minutes at a time during the night when asleep.

Activity 8 : Reading an academic article

Read the following excerpt from an article found at www.nlm.nih.gov then answer the questions that follow.

Before you start, review the following terms

• solid food : any food that is not liquid
• sugary drinks : beverages containing a lot of sugar
• exclusive breast-feeding : feeding a baby only breast milk
• pediatrics (UK paediatrics) : medical area specialising in children
• risk factor : something which makes something else more likely to happen
• fast food : convenience food which is processed not freshly made

Answer the following questions.

• 1. A summary of paragraph 1 is :
  • (a) Black children have higher rates of obesity than Hispanic children.
  • (b) Black and Hispanic children have particular risk factors leading to a high rate of obesity.
  • (c) A new study identified risk factors for obesity.
• 2. A summary of paragraph 2 is :
  • (a) Research suggests that most of the risk factors for the children can be changed.
  • (b) The study suggests changing the results to decrease the risk.
  • (c) Breast feeding and lack of sleep lead to a higher risk of obesity.
• 3. A summary of paragraph 3 is :
  • (a) By age 2, Black and Hispanic children are very obese.
  • (b) By age 2, Black children weigh more than double that of white children.
  • (c) By age 2, black and Hispanic children have almost double the rate of obesity of white children.
• 4. A summary of paragraph 4 is :
  • (a) Early risk factors include the type of food and drink offered to infants especially breast feeding.
  • (b) Eating in front of the television is the main risk factor for obesity.
  • (c) Sleeping too much increases the risk of obesity in babies.

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Virginia ALLUM Author and Consultant in English for Medical PurposesUnited Kingdom