VOA慢速英语2020 墨西哥多州禁止向儿童出售垃圾食品

Mexico Targets Junk Food as Obesity¹ Takes Toll² Amid³ Pandemic

Several Mexican states have proposed⁴ or approved bans on junk food sales to children. The country has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity as well as a high rate of death for young people.

墨西哥的几个州已经提议或批准禁止向儿童出售垃圾食品。该国是儿童肥胖率最高的国家之一，年轻人的死亡率也很高。

The Gulf⁵ coast state of Tabasco passed restrictions⁶ on the sale of sugary bottled drinks and snacks that are high in carbohydrates⁷. Oaxaca state was the first to use such a ban.

墨西哥湾沿岸的塔巴斯科州通过了对销售含糖瓶装饮料和高碳水化合物零食的限制。瓦哈卡州是第一个采取这类禁令的州。

Lawmakers in several other states have introduced bills to do the same. Most of the bans would stop the sale of junk food to young people unless their parent is present.

其他几个州的立法者也提出了同样的法案。大多数禁令将禁止向年轻人出售垃圾食品，除非他们的父母在场。

In the northern state of Chihuahua, Representative Rene Frias introduced a bill "to guarantee our children and youths a healthier diet and to fight obesity..." The bill has not yet been voted on.

在北部的奇瓦瓦州，众议员雷内·弗里亚斯（Rene Frias）提出了一项法案，“保证我们的孩子和年轻人有更健康的饮食，与肥胖作斗争……”该法案尚未付诸表决。

In Mexico City, Mayor⁸ Claudia Sheinbaum said earlier this month that leaders there are working to put together similar laws.

在墨西哥城，市长希恩鲍姆本月早些时候表示，当地领导人正在努力制定类似的法律。

The issue has become important because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mexico has the third highest confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the world, behind the United States and Brazil.

由于冠状病毒大流行，这一问题变得非常重要。墨西哥是全球新冠肺炎确诊死亡人数第三高的国家，仅次于美国和巴西。

The government has said that high blood pressure and obesity are the main conditions that may have caused the disease⁹ to become more severe.

政府表示，高血压和肥胖可能是导致疫情变得愈加严重的主要因素。

Hugo López-Gatell is the government's main voice during the pandemic. He is a big supporter of the junk food ban, in part because about 50 percent of Mexico's deaths from the virus have been people under 65. He has blamed obesity and bad diets. He has described soft drinks as "bottled poison."

乌戈·洛佩斯-加泰尔（Hugo Lopez-Gatell）是疫情期间政府的主要发言人。他是垃圾食品禁令的大力支持者，部分原因是墨西哥死于该病毒的人中大约有50%是65岁以下的人。他将此归咎于肥胖和不良的饮食习惯。他将软饮料称为“瓶装毒药”。

But what exactly is "junk food?" That is the main problem for the writers of the new laws. Oaxaca is still working on its list, mostly because there are a lot of traditional Mexican foods that have a lot of sugar, salt and calories.

但“垃圾食品”究竟指什么呢？这是新法律制定者面临的主要问题。瓦哈卡州仍在进行细化工作，主要是因为有很多传统的墨西哥食物含有大量糖、盐和卡路里。

The lawmakers want to avoid banning traditional sweet foods. Instead, they have blamed packaged foods made by major international companies.

立法者希望避免禁止传统的甜食。相反，他们指责大型国际公司生产的包装食品。

For example, the Tabasco law used hard-to-understand language to avoid including traditional food.

例如，塔巴斯科州的法律使用难以理解的语言避免将传统食物包括在内。

The new laws may be hard to enforce¹⁰. Some multi-national packaged foods, like Doritos corn chips, have become part of Mexico's food culture.

新的法律可能很难执行。一些跨国包装食品，如多力多滋玉米片，已经成为墨西哥饮食文化的一部分。

The U.N. Children's Fund¹¹ says child obesity is a health emergency in Mexico. It says the country's children have the highest rate in the world of junk food eating. Many young people there get 40 percent of their total calories from junk food.

联合国儿童基金会表示，儿童肥胖是墨西哥的一个健康紧急问题。该机构表示，墨西哥的儿童吃垃圾食品的比率是全球最高的。当地许多年轻人的总热量的40%来自于垃圾食品。

Business groups have complained about the effect the laws will have on tens of thousands of small stores and street businesses that make a lot of their money selling junk food. The business groups say it will create a new junk food black market.

商业团体抱怨，这项法律将对数以万计的靠卖垃圾食品盈利的小商店和街头企业产生影响。商业团体称，这将创造一个新的垃圾食品黑市。

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 amid   

prep.在…中间，在…之中，被…围绕

参考例句：

• The government collapsed amid budget quarrels.政府因预算问题争吵不休而倒台。
• This book was written amid many difficulties.这本书是在困难重重中写成的。

4 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

7 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

8 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

9 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

10 enforce   

vt.实施，执行；强制，强迫；加强，坚持

参考例句：

• You have no right to enforce your own views on me.你无权把你自己的观点强加给我。
• They tried to enforce agreement with their plans.他们企图迫使人们同意他们的计划。

11 fund   

n.基金，资金，存款，财源，贮藏；vt.提供资金，积累

参考例句：

• They decided to set up a fund for this purpose.他们决定为此专立一项基金。
• This fund may not be drawn on without permission.这笔钱非经批准不得动用。