VOA慢速英语2014 Child Welfare in India Improves as Mothers Participate in Peer Support Groups 印度小孩受益于母亲参与同侪支持团体

Child Welfare in India Improves as Mothers Participate in Peer 1 Support Groups 印度小孩受益于母亲参与同侪支持团体

New research in India shows that children eat better when their mothers have more power, more education and are able to move about freely 2 in the communities.

印度最新研究证明，当母亲拥有更大权利，接受更多教育，并能够在社区自由活动时，孩子就吃得更好。

Researchers found that women who joined a job skills training program sought more in control at home and in their families, and children of these women ate more rice and dairy 3 foods. 

研究人员发现，参与过职业技能培训项目的女性在家中和家庭中会寻求更多控制权，而这些女性的孩子会食用更多大米和奶制品。

A program in southern India is called Mahila Samakhya. It brings women together to form local support groups. Researchers at the University of Illinois questioned if and how these groups effected the women's sense of themselves and their positions in the family.

印度南部一个项目被称为Mahila Samakhya。它把女性们团结起来组建了当地的支持组织。伊利诺伊大学的研究人员分析了这些组织是否影响以及如何影响这些女性的自我意识以及她们在家庭中的地位。

Kathy Baylis is an economist 4 at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. She led the study.

凯西·贝利斯（Kathy Baylis）是伊利诺伊大学农业、消费和环境科学学院的一位经济学家。她主持了这项研究。

Ms Baylis says that before joining the peer groups, the women knew fewer than five other women who they were not related 5 to. Ms Baylis adds that many of them did not know the possibilities for women in work and in family life.

贝利斯女士说，在参加这些同侪组织之前，这些女性认识的不相关女性少于五人。贝利斯女士补充说，其中很多人从不知道女性在工作和家庭生活中的各种可能性。

She reads some of the comments from these women that show this way of thinking: "Before I was in the peer group, I didn't know I could stand up to my husband. I didn't know I could work outside the home or work outside the farm. I didn't know women were doctors and lawyers, etc., etc."

她念了一些体现她们这类想法的一些评论：“在我参加同侪组织之前，我从不知道我可以反抗我的丈夫，我从不知道我可以在家庭之外或农场之外工作。我从不知道还有女性医生或律师等等。”

Experts say 40 percent of Indian children under age five suffer from underfeeding. But Ms Baylis says, involvement in the support groups, led the women to provide better foods for their children. 

专家表示，5岁以下的印度小孩有40%营养不良。但贝利斯女士说，参与这些支持组织，使得这些女性能够给孩子提供更好的食物。

Researchers visited the homes of those involved in the groups. They created a simple measuring process. They brought different size food bowls, and asked the mothers which size bowls they were using.

研究人员拜访了参与这些组织的女性的家。他们想出了一种简单的衡量方法。他们带去不同大小的食具，然后询问这些母亲们她们用的是哪种规格的食具。

"And instead of trying to get people to recall 6 exact number of cups or etc. that they were feeding their kids, we went and asked how many of these size bowls did your different kids get fed of rice and of daal and of various dairy products," said Baylis.

贝利斯说，“我们不是试图让人们想起他们喂养孩子的食具的确切标号，而是去询问，用这种规格的食具，他们的孩子能吃几碗大米、扁豆汤和其它各类奶制品。”

Researches confirmed that the children were eating better based on the size of bowl the mothers used. They found that girls especially started eating more.

研究人员证实，孩子们吃得更好是基于母亲所使用的食具规格。他们发现女孩尤其开始吃得更多。

Ms Baylis says the women also began to resist physical abuse 7 from their husbands. The women threatened to report the violence of these men unless they stopped.  

贝利斯女士表示，这些女性还开始抵制来自丈夫的身体虐待。这些女性威胁要举报丈夫们的暴力行为，除非他们停手。

The study is one of the first to show the effectiveness of Mahila Samakhya on female 8 empowerment. The Indian central government established the program in 1995.

这项研究首次证实了Mahila Samakhya项目在女性权利上的成效。印度中央政府于1995年建立了这一项目。

A similar program in Bangladesh - SHOUHARDO has also had success. SHOUHARDO is the Bangla word for friendship. The non-profit organization CARE administer 9 SHOUHARDO along with the Bangla government and US government's Food For Peace program.

孟加拉国类似的SHOUHARDO项目也取得了成功。SHOUHARDO在孟加拉语中的意思是友谊。非营利性的CARE组织联同孟加拉国政府以及美国政府粮食换和平项目一起管理着SHOUHARDO项目。