Weight-watchers

Words in Use (Lesson 40)

• epidemic
• obesity
• magnify
• chiropractor
• obstacle
• ventilate
• jeopardize
• negative
• pension
• vital
• municipal
• oral

Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it.
  
Weight-watchers
Judging from the popularity* of books on dieting, one would think an epidemic of obesity is sweeping the nation. Although being fat is not contagious,* it is a condition not to be sneered* at since it affects one-fourth of all Americans. Without magnifying the problem, professionals concerned* with the nation's health, from chiropractors to medical specialists, agree that being overweight is a major obstacle to good health. They point out that people will readily see the need to ventilate their homes for fresh air to get rid of vermin* that may cause disease, but they jeopardize their health by eating the wrong foods or the wrong amount of foods. Coincidentally,* a recent survey of employment agencies showed that obesity* has a negative effect on a person's chances of landing a job. While the job-seeker is asking about salary and pensions, the employer is thinking about the worker's healthand weight is a vital consideration when it comes to injuries, disease, and absenteeism. Some municipal jobs, in fact, do require an applicant to be within normal weight range, and one New York bank insists on an oral understanding that applicants will take off excess weight. As the Wall Street journal put it, “Fat people often find slim pickings in the job market.”