VOA慢速英语2020 墨西哥多州禁止向儿童出售垃圾食品（在线收听）

Mexico Targets Junk Food as Obesity Takes Toll Amid Pandemic

Several Mexican states have proposed 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 Gulf coast state of Tabasco passed restrictions on the sale of sugary bottled drinks and snacks that are high in carbohydrates. 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, Mayor 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 disease 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 enforce. 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 Fund 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。