When doctors urge overweight kids to pick up more activities,reading probably isn"t what they
have in mind．Yet a new study by fatness researchers at Duke University finds that the simple act
of reading-depending on the choice of material-can cause weight loss in teenage girls．
     The study"s experimental group included 31 fat girls aged 9 to 13,who took part in the Healthy
Lifestyles Program at Duke Children"s Hospital．The girls read a novel called Lake Rescue,whose
protagonist (主人公) is an overweight teenager who struggles with low selfesteem,feelings of loneliness
and teasing because of her size．A group of 33 girls read a different book called Charlotte in Paris,
which did not have an overweight character,and another group of 17 girls read neither book．
     At the end of the sixmonth experiment,all the girls who read books had lost weight,but the girls who
read Lake Rescue lost more．They lowered their body mass index (BMI) by 0.71,compared with
0.33 in the Charlotte group,an average 0.05 increase among the nonreaders．
     The idea behind the study,says Dr Sarah Armstrong,director of Healthy Lifestyles,was to find a
way to encourage the girls without adopting the restrictive and often authoritative voice of so many
other nutrition and diet programs．Lake Rescue was the perfect instrument,says Armstrong；it
presentsa likable character to whom the girls could relate and whom they could learn from．As the
book progresses,its protagonist learns to make healthier lifestyle choices and finds an advisor to help
keep her on track．Armstrong says,"She learns that she can become healthier,and the "I can do it"
feeling resonates (产生共鸣) with the teenage girls．"

     Should ecigarettes (electronic cigarettes) be a new choice for the smokers trying to get rid
of the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed．More than half of the people questioned in
a survey think ecigarettes should be controlled by the US Food and Drug Administration,but 47
percent believe the ecigarettes should be available to the smokers who want to quit．
     "In the hunt for a safer cigarette,ecigarettes are becoming a popular choice among those either
 trying to quit or looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers
claim to be safer," Zogby International,which conducted the survey,said in a statement．
     About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the survey had heard about ecigarettes,which
are batterypowered,or rechargeable cigarettes that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution．They do not
produce smoke but a water vapor without smell．Sold mostly on the Internet,ecigarettes were first
made in China．
     Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using ecigarettes,saying there
was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit．The WHO said people
who smoke ecigarettes breathe in a fine fog of nicotine into the lungs．
     Nearly a third of people questioned in the survey think that ecigarettes should be allowed in places
where smoking is forbidden,because they don"t produce smoke,but 46 percent disagree．Men who
were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be a choice
available to smokers who want to quit．Young people,aged 18－29,and singles were the groups most
open to trying ecigarettes．Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide,according
to the WHO．