Junk Food Ban in Schools
At the moment there is a restriction on junk food in schools for example vending machines in your school have changed from chocolate bars and crisps to nutri-grain bars and drinks. Junk food is not served as frequently and you may feel disappointed about this. I think the ban is a good thing since statistics show by the middle of the century, 2050, two-thirds of children will be overweight or obese if nothing is done. I wouldn’t like to be one of the people in those two-thirds and neither would you. Since action is being taken now by the ban and now we have a second chance to change for the better. We all know that a healthy body is very important and an unhealthy diet results in an unhealthy body. Foods eaten with a high factor of salt and fat too much can cause obesity. You have only yourself to blame. As the saying goes you are what you eat. Even though salt is essential for our lives excess amounts found in junk food can cause high blood pressure. And it doesn’t stop there since obesity can cause other health problems such as diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Statistics show that 90% of adults and two-thirds of children could be obese by 2050. This will put an enormous strain on the NHS because of weight-related conditions. Yes we may say some people need access to sugary foods for medical reasons but there are a very little amount of children having these requirements in our schools. Even if there are, many of these would have a sugary food prepared with them. This situation has got so out of control that Jamie Oliver portrayed obesity as a “horror show” and described the rise in obesity as an “emergency”. Now the government had to step in as well, launching a £400 million Change4Life public health campaign showing how hectic this situation is.
Doctors warn that eating junk food can affect your dental health as well. A doctor from Royal Hospital said, “The sugar found in junk food is enrichment to bacterial growth in your mouth. These bacteria are