考研英语
2019-05-27-reading comprehension
UNIT
TEXT 3
Quitting smoking is one of the healthiest things a person can do,especially for teenage smokers who battle not only addiction but also the social pressure to keep lighting up.
Now new evidence that suggests a way to make their efforts easier:exercise.In a study involving 233 teens aged 14 to 19, teens who participated in a smoking cessation program combined with exercise were more likely to quit smoking than those who were provided only minimal stop-smoking counseling.
Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups:one group got a single smoking cessation session; a second group got a more intensive, 10-week stop-smoking program known as Not On Tobacco(NOT); and a third received a combination group had quit , compared with only 5% in the first group and 11% of the second.
The third group consisted only of five minutes of additional advice about exercise given at each weekly session. The participants were counseled on how physical activity can maintain good health and possibly help in giving up cigarettes. The students didn’t exercise during the NOT sessions,but scheduled and participated in physical activity on their own,outside of the program.
The effect of the additional information on exercise was most striking among boys.It didn’t hold for the girls, however. More girls in the NOT alone program quit smoking after three months than those getting smoking and exercise counseling. Horn,a professor of community medicine, can’t explain the gender difference . But she suggests that it may have something to do with the fact that teen girl don’t engage in as much vigorous physical activity or organized sports as boys do.
Still the results suggest that exercise might help motivate at least some teens,including girl.”Even a small amount of time spent by counselors in motivating kids toward increased physical activity may have pretty significant impacts on health and health economics,” says Horn.
She says the extra benefit is important. The latest data show that smoking rates among teens,which have recently declined dramatically,are starting to plateau. Anything that can help push that percentage lower would be welcome,say health experts.
In the study ,Horn‘s group recorded both the students’ self-reports about whether they had quit,as well as more objective measures of nicotine in their system via a carbon monoxide reader. At the start of the study,all of the students were smoking at least half a pack a day during the week and more over the weekends ,and wanted to quit.
It’s not clear why exactly exercise may help teens quit,but Horn says she is reviewing her data to learn more about the types of exercise the students used, and how long they were active every day.She hopes it will lead better advice for teens who might be having a hard time kicking cigarettes.
