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Junk
foods should be out of school canteens: NGO
Tuesday November 09, 2010 07:01:45 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi:
Chips, burgers, pizzas, kathi rolls and other junk foods have
become the preferred snack for children, and are even sold in
school canteens, leading to lifestyle diseases among kids, said an
NGO Tuesday stressing the need to set health standards for
improving children's nutrition.
There is need to improve children's nutrition by setting health
standards for snacks and beverages sold in schools, Bhavan Barmi,
clinical psychologist, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre
said.
A survey conducted in 15 private and public school canteens of
Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) among 10,000 children
- on their eating and food desire pattern -found that kids
preferred junk food like pizzas, burgers, chowmein, kathi rolls
which are heavy in fats, salt, and sugar. Due to this many
children develop lifestyle diseases.
"Not just parents but the school management should push school
canteens to sell healthy snacks instead of junk foods, as children
spend more time in school," Barmi said.
The survey indicated that children buy food from the canteen at
least 3 times a week. Even the food they bring from home is oily.
"Although many prefer home food they are mostly oily items like
paranthas or maida-based products. Rice and fruits are found less
in their lunch boxes," Barmi informed.
Half the children surveyed said they eat egg, pulses and nuts only
once in a week. Most of the children said they feel extremely
tired by the end of the day and can only jog for 15 minutes at a
stretch.
"Certain unexplored aspects like the need for school canteen
guidelines and the impact of advertisements on kids' eating habits
needs to be debated. Health interventions at school is the need of
the hour," she added.
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