The academe is working on producing smart and healthy students by banning junk food in the school. The Education Ministry now forbids schools to sell or serve junk food within their premises.
According to WebMd, junk food refers to food that is packed with calories but has little nutritional value. Most junk food falls into the category of "snack food" or "fast food." French fries, chicken nuggets, shakes, soda are among the popular junk food that most, if not all, love.
JPost reported that on Monday, the Education Ministry released a new guideline forbidding schools from selling drinks and foods that contain a high amount of sugar like cookies, cakes, croissants and candy. Aside from these, fried foods and processed food like hotdogs and kebabs will also be banned.
This does not mean that students are left with nothing to eat because schools are allowed to serve sandwiches from whole wheat bread with eggs, cheese with up to nine percent fat, white cheese with up to five percent fat and humus with up to nine percent fat and tuna. The new guideline will only give students healthier choice for their snacks.
According to a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, junk food availability in school raises obesity. One of the growing issues nowadays is the growing concern of obesity among children. Per the study the availability of junk food is associated with weight gain. "A 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of schools with junk food is correlated with about a 1 percent higher BMI for the average student," the study reported.
The new guideline released by the Education Ministry is timely and helpful in addressing obesity issues. This will also help control students' consumption of junk food and raise their awareness on what's healthy and not.
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