【推荐1】Many people believe eating healthily is expensive—and more costly than buying junk foods. But our new research, published in the BMC Pubic Health, shows this isn't the truth.

Most of the Australian family food budget(预算)is being spent on junk foods and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt.

Less than 7% of Australians eat healthily. The Australian adults get at least 35% of their energy from junk foods and drinks. As a result, two-thirds of adults (63%) and one-quarter of children are overweight.

We used the Australian Health Survey 2011—2013 and the suggestions of the Australian Dietary Guidelines to model healthy diets for a family of two adults and two children every two weeks. We collected food prices in supermarkets and stores in high and low-socioeconomic(社会经济地位低的)areas in Brisbane, and compared the diet prices with family incomes.

In both areas, a family of two adults and two children spend about 18% more on present diets than would be required to buy healthy diets. About 58% of the food budget for present diets is spent on junk foods, including takeaway foods(14%), and sugary drinks(4%)．

In the low-socioeconomic area, a family of two adults and two children spend $640. 20 every two weeks on their present diets, but could buy a healthy diet for $560. 93 every two weeks. In the high-socioeconomic area, these numbers are $661. 92 and $580. 01.

Supermarket food prices were about 3% higher in the high-socioeconomic location. Takeaway foods were also relatively more expensive, but sugary drinks were priced similarly in both areas.

Present diets cost more than healthy diets, so it is surely not the price that helps to drive preferences for unhealthy choices.

【推荐2】Overweight(超重) is one of the biggest health problems now. Being overweight affects more than how you look. Too much fat can kill you. What’s worse, overweight children turn into overweight adults(成人). If you’re obese now, you probably will grow into an obese adult. But here’s good news. You can fight overweight.

Change your eating habits

You are what you eat. Kids like snacks. Did you list any healthy snacks? One study of eating habits showed that soft drinks are the first in the snack list. Next, kids choose salty snacks, like chips. What’s more, the list is full of junk food from No. 3 to No. 11. Finally, No. 12, kids picked a healthy snack — fruit. So, think about your snack choice again.

Get outside to exercise

Jim, a player on his school football team. had a weight problem not long time ago. He could never get anyone to play with him. So his father and he started playing football for a few minutes every night. Ten minutes turned into an hour or more. In just a few years, the heavy kid became athletic, fit and healthy.

More TV means more fat

Nearly every American kid watches TV for 2 hours and 56 minutes every day that adds up to 44 days a year of sitting. More TV(or more Internet surfing, or more computer games) means more fat.

Eat an apple a day, walk around the house, play with your family … Do it today, and do it more tomorrow. It will help you a lot.

【推荐3】

【推荐2】Chinese has a long history. It has shaped other languages in Asia the way Latin has shape languages in the West. With this history, will Chinese have a surprising future?

Over one billion people speak Chinese in the world—far more than any other language. It is the language of the country which is soon to have the world’s largest economy (经济).

In fact, Chinese is definitely going to be a world language. Why is this certain? We must look at the economic and political power (政治影响力) of China, which is increasing every day. In the past, world languages have always been the languages of countries with powerful economics. LatinF, rench and English were important because of the power of the countries that spoke those languages.

Foreign interest in Chinese has developed very quickly together with the development of the Chinese economy. Chinese has become one of the most important and popular languages to learn.

As China develops, more and more people will want to learn about Chinese language and culture, to work and study in China, and to do business with Chinese companies. Chinese will one day become an international language.

【推荐3】If your family is like many in the United States, it’s easy to get a cold bottled water right out of the fridge, right?

But all those plastic bottles pollute the environment. In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, adding 29 billion water bottles a year to the problem. In order to make all these bottles, factories use 17 million barrels (桶) of oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months.

So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen tap (水龙头)? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is cleaner than water out of the tap, but that’s not true. In the United States, local governments make sure water from the kitchen tap is clean and safe.

People love the convenience of bottled water. But maybe if they realize the problem it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a refillable steel bottle instead of plastic.

Plastic bottle recycling can help — instead of going out with the trash. Unluckily, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes and the ocean. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate (降解) .

Water is good for you, so keep drinking it. But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours.