- The Delhi High Court appointed a committee in response to a case filed by an NGO demanding the ban on junk food. According to the committee’s report:
- Junk food advertising can be restricted instead of being banned.
- No regulation on advertisement of junk foods.
- Junk food should be banned only within 50 metres of schools instead of the 500 yards (457 metres) put forth by the petitioner.
- The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) put together a report to fill in the gaps and has recommended:
- Stringent steps to curb junk food.
- Regulation of online advertisements, sponsorship, direct marketing and other emerging sales and promotional ventures as children are not the best judges of food and are aggressively targeted by advertisements and celebrity endorsements.
- Ban on sale of junk foods in schools and areas within 500 yards.
- A canteen policy to provide nutritious food.
- Establishment of stringent norms for unhealthy ingredients like trans fatty acids, and encouraging of physical activity among children.
- A scoring-based nutrient profiling model as practised in the UK where points are allocated on the basis of nutrient content in 100 grams of food or drink.
- A 10-12 yr old child would require up to 30 g of sugar, 5 gm of salt; processed food filled with fats, salt, sugar and preservatives are harmful to their health.
- A study among 400 school children in Chennai found that the total prevalence of hypertension was 21.5%.
- To control this and control consumption strong regulations which control the availability and exposure of junk food to children should be introduced.
- According to WHO:
- Number of overweight or obese infants and young children (zero to 5 years) increased from 31 million globally in 1990 to 44 million in 2012.
- Majority of these live in developing countries where it increases at a rate 30% more than that in developed countries.
- If current trend continues, the number of overweight or obese infants and young children globally will increase to 70 million by 2025.
- Many countries like USA, UAE, England, Canada have introduced norms such as banning junk food in schools, regulating advertisement and promotion and imposing taxes.
- Read at:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/cse-report-comes-down-hard-on-junk-food-in-schools/article6235383.ece