Grove English Communication Ⅲ
LESSON 7
Holiday Weight Gain
“Different countries celebrate different holidays, but many such celebration periods have one thing in common: an increased intake of favorite foods,” a study in an American medical journal reports. If you are worried about putting on extra weight over the holidays, your fears are justified.
The researchers monitored daily changes in the weight of nearly 3,000 people from America, Germany, and Japan for a year by using network-connected weight scales. They compared the highest weights of all the participants during the ten days after each holiday with their weights ten days before the holiday.
Americans who participated in the study gained weight by 0.2% during Thanksgiving and 0.4% over Christmas. In Germany, the participants increased weight by 0.6% around Christmas and 0.2% around Easter. In Japan, the participants got 0.5% heavier over Christmas and 0.3% heavier during Golden Week.
The research findings, however, do not mean you shouldn’t celebrate special occasions to the fullest. “The key,” says one of the researchers, “is to keep your extra eating to the holiday—not to the holiday season.”