Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 18: The sale of junk food in the vicinity of schools across the state may soon be banned to ensure students in their formative ages develop good eating habits to lead a healthy life.
The central food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is now mulling to notify guidelines which may practically ban the sale of junk food items near and within school campuses. FSSAI has issued draft guidelines on the availability of wholesome and nutritious food in schools to control junk food consumption among children.
The draft guidelines aim at restricting sale of food items high in fat, sugar and salt contents within 50 metres of the school premises. Such food items include ready-to-eat noodles, chips, pizzas, burgers, sugar-sweetened carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, potato fries and confectionery items.
FSSAI is also mulling to bring certain internal changes on the campus to regulate the intake of unhealthy food by children. The regulator’s norms talk about making a canteen policy and creating awareness among children and their parents about the ramifications of unhealthy eating habits.
Asserting that the benefits of balanced, fresh and traditional food cannot be replaced, FSSAI guidelines say that schools should not promote food items high in fat, salt and sugar and that children are not the best judge of their food choices.
The move comes in the backdrop of a Delhi High Court directive that asked the authorities concerned to monitor the availability of junk food at schools. According to experts, the FSSAI norms, when notified, can bring a major positive change in the eating habits of children. Parents, child rights activists and health professionals from Bhubaneswar have welcomed the move, claiming it as a ‘pro-children move’.
Renu Mishra, a housewife who has two school-going kids, said, “At home, we try our best to serve our kids the best nutritious food. But we have little control on children when they are on the school campus, where canteens serve mostly samosa and other oily food items. Nearby shops offering chips and other fast food items further raise the menace. We want early implementation of such pro-children norms.”
Dr Pooja Jha, a physician, said, “Junk food often has an adverse impact on the health of school-going children. Fats and excess sugar and salt used in such food items pose threats to the health of children.”
