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Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. tackle
    • ex. The government is trying to tackle the traffic problem by building new roads.
  2. obesity
    • ex. The doctor explained how obesity can cause health problems like heart disease.
  3. processed
    • ex. Processed foods, like chips and instant noodles, often have a lot of salt.
  4. phase out (something)
    • ex. The city plans to phase out old buses and buy new electric ones.
  5. require
    • ex. The school requires students to wear uniforms every day.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Mexico started a new rule that banned junk food in schools to tackle big health problems in the country, like obesity and diabetes. In Mexico, 40% of what children eat every day is sweet drinks and processed foods. UNICEF says this is a big problem and an emergency. So, the government wants students to eat healthier foods.

Under the new rule, schools must phase out processed snacks, like sweet fruit drinks, potato chips, and salty peanuts. These snacks have been very common in Mexican schools for years. The rule also requires schools to give students healthier food, like bean tacos and plain water. The government asks parents to help by cooking healthy food at home.

Schools that break the new rule may have to pay large fines. However, it is difficult to enforce the new rule because many schools don’t have clean water, good internet, or electricity. As a result, it’s hard for schools to follow all the rules. This also makes it hard for the government to check if schools follow them. Additionally, the government hasn’t said how it plans to stop people from selling junk food outside schools.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Healthy Students

  • Why is it important for schools to provide healthy food for the students? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, what other things affect children's eating habits? Discuss.
  • Do you think junk food should be banned from schools in your country as well? Why do you say so? Discuss.

Junk Food Ban

  • Schools in Mexico must slowly stop selling processed snacks that have been sold there for years. How do you think students would react to the new rules? Discuss.
  • Imagine there is a new junk food ban in schools in your country. Do you think it will be easy to enforce? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • The government asks parents to help by cooking healthy food at home. How important do you think parents' help is in promoting healthy eating to young people? Discuss.