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What does "address the imbalance" mean?

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
Would you tell me what "address the imbalance" in the following passage mean?

According to the Unite Nations, more than 900 million people worldwide are thought to be undernourished. On the other hand, a large number of people in developed countries, which include Japan and the U.S., suffer from health problems caused by overeating.
A Japanese project known as "Table for Two" (TFT) is trying to address the imbalance the exists between the rich and not-so-rich parts of the world.
 
It means pretty much nothing substantial.

When you say you're going to "address" something, it's typically just a fancy way of saying "do or say something about it". A weasel word, in other words. The word "imbalance" doesn't have any special meaning when used as the object for it. So that's all it is here: it's saying that it's trying to do or say something (unspecified) about the "imbalance" mentioned.

Also note that the object that is being "addressed" is not just "the imbalance", but rather "the imbalance that exists between the rich and not-so-rich parts of the world".
 
I think you probably understand this, hirashin, but the "imbalance" refers to the inequality of how people in one part of the world do not get enough food, while people in another part eat too much food.
不均衡です。
 
It could, but not necessarily. More context is needed. It could also be talking about something more trivial, like differences of habit.
 
The address in this context could mean what JuliMaruchan stated in their original post. However I found information about this organization and they are selling healthy options to people in developed countries for a slightly increased premium that they are then using to provide meals to people in less developed countries. So in this instance address is meant to mean these specific actions that the organization is taking.

"TABLE FOR TWO" Promoting Healthier Meals Locally and School Lunch Donations Internationally | Japan for Sustainability
 
In any case "address the imbalance" pretty much always means "do something to improve the inequality" of something. It could be anything from social problems or an actual physical weight imbalance. No need to check the text.
Google"address+the+imbalance"
 
Thank you very much for the help, Julimaruchan, joadbred. OoTmaster and mdchachi.

I didn't know there is such a site. I wonder if it infringes copyright.
Though the site says ここでは「(問題)を処理する・扱う」の意味, I gave my students another translation: 取り組む.

In any case "address the imbalance" pretty much always means "do something to improve the inequality" of something. It could be anything from social problems or an actual physical weight imbalance.

This explanation of mdchachi is the clearest to me.
 
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