Junk food continues to satiate govt schoolkids

CHANDIGARH: UT education department may have imposed a blanket ban on the sale of junk food but it���s obviously not keeping a tab, which is why most government school canteens still stock chips, colas, burgers and samosas to say the least. In the absence of a check on menus, teachers too are a little puzzled as to what differentiates a healthy snack from that which has no nutritional value.
The dilemma, however, should have gone after 19 students of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, took ill some two weeks ago after snacking on burgers from the canteen.The principal of a government school said, ���Our canteen has samosas but no explicit guidelines have been issued by the education department, defining whether it is a junk food or not. Besides, we also have wafers and cold drinks as they are packaged items and would cause less harm to children than unpackaged eatables.���
But dietitians warn that packaged junk food contains preservatives and added colour which contain sodium glutamate, the cause of migraine and headache ��� two most common problems with schoolgoing children these days. ���While cold drinks have empty calories, noodles and chips contain trans fatty acids which are harmful for the heart and lead to obesity. Schools can rather go for soda water or simple nimbu pani,��� suggested chief dietitian, PGI, Ratna Bose.
The mother of eight-year-old Mayank, a student of GMSSS-20, Jaswinder Kaur, felt it was time schools promoted healthy habits in children. ���Canteens should rather have filling meals like rajma-chawal and dahi-parantha or simple vegetable sandwiches because students will have junk food only if they are made available to them,��� she added.
Passing the buck, principal of another government school said, ���Parents should avoid giving money to children so that they can���t buy food from outside.��� A student of GMSSS-19 said junk food was not just easily available in the school canteen but was also tempting. ���But if a strict ban persists, then there will be no
chance of buying it,��� she quickly added.
Obviously in the dark, DPI (schools) Samvartak Singh said, ���We make sure that school canteens provide nutritious food to students. However, if norms are being flouted, we will take immediate action.���
What is a junk food?
Anything which should be trashed, but eaten instead, is junk food. It has no nutritional value as it is generally made of maida, hence has no fibre. Use of rancid oil makes the consumption of deep-fried eatables even more harmful, said Ratna Bose, dietitian, PGI
Healthy replacement
1. Lime juice (nimbu pani)
2. Kathi rolls made of whole wheat flour and lots of green vegetables
3. Puffed rice (murmura)
4. Dhokla/idli
5. Flattened rice (poha)