Junk Food Menace: Unhealthy Trend in Schools
| “You are what you eat.” – Anthelme Brillat-Savarin |
National Nutrition Week is observed in India from September 1st to 7th. The first week of September is dedicated to raise awareness among people about the importance of nutrition and the significance of cultivating healthy eating habits.
Aim of this week is to implant the importance of nutrition through educational programme, seminar, workshops to educate people about maintaining healthy dietary habits. The positive impact of proper nutrition, ways to prevent disease.
| “Theme:- The theme of National Nutrition Week 2024 is ‘Nutritious Diet for Everyone’. |
Schools, Colleges are Hub of Junk food :- Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a draft regulation in 2019. It bans sale and marketing of junk food inside school and within 50 meter of school campuses. Likewise UGC has also prohibited the sale of unhealthy food in higher educational institutions canteen.
The Government of India has a campaign aimed at healthy eating called “Eat Right”. The centre has banned sale of prepackage foods which are referred to as foods high in fat, salt and sugar to school children.
But still some schools, colleges are flooded with unhealthy food like chips, namkeen, deep fried samosas etc. These pre-packaged food are being provided primarily to Urban schools which make their health deterred. These children became prone to disease quickly.
| “Theme:- “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison.” – Ann Wigmore |
Why not Cookies and Chocolates for Children?
Children could suffer from diabetic and Obese which may lead to various health issues. Food that we consume contain natural sugar. Cookies and Chocolate are loaded with added sugar which increases the level of sugar in the body. It increases calories and lead to weight gain, dental issues, digestion problem and inflammation at the very early age which is considered a sensitive part. An English proverb rightly says that don’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork.
The Mess of Packaged Food
The problem mainly associated with Urban areas where due to working culture people consume packaged food or ready to eat foods.
The market of Packaged and ready made food in India is growing by time. Food and beverage packaging industry is experiencing unexpected growth pushed by various factors like fast paced lifestyle, online food delivery, growth in purchasing power etc.
The packaged foods are highly processed which are micro-nutrient deficient and cause overweight issues. These instant and ready to serve foods are high in sugar, salt and fat. Upon consuming, it leads to severe health issues from coronary heart disease, hypertension to Diabetes.
Food Packaged can be misleading:- Food packaging often use attention grabbing labels. Claims to be natural but contains preservatives and added colour. They sometime use fruit ripening chemicals like Calcium Carbide despite of ban on it by FSSAI.
- Calcium Carbide:- Release a gas called “Acetylene” which contain harmful arsenic and Phosphorus. It can cause dizziness, frequent thirst, irritation like problems in the consumer.
Malnourished :- Stunting (children too short for their age) , wasting (children thin for their height) and Overweight (child risk for obesity and certain disease) are forms of malnourished children. These are clearly visible in children due to lack of balanced diet.
There is another less visible form of malnutrition called Hidden Hunger. This occurs when a child becomes deficient in vitamins and other essential micro-nutrient. It leads to a weak immune system, delay in physical growth and lack of proper brain development.
Tips to improve Nutrition
- Match calories you eat with your activity level.
- Include high fibre starchy food. (Potatoes, rice, breads, cereals)
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Fish consumption at least twice a week
- Reduce sugary foods and drinks
- Don’t skip breakfast. (Eat less salts and Sugars)
- Pregnant women and new mothers should take additional nutritious food.
- Choose Whole Food. Unprocessed or minimally processed food like whole grain, low-fat diary etc.
We can use the help of digital tools and resources to get health tips and maintain our plan. There are numerous nutritional apps like “Noom Weight” , “My Fitness Pal”, “Lose It” etc. Websites like “eatright.org” and “nutritionatlasindia.in” provide comprehensive details over nutritional intake too.
Healthy eating makes mind and body healthy. It lead to a healthy personality that reflects in our day to day life.
Written by: Aijaz Hussain
