Schools Nationwide Ban Junk Foods (20-01-2009)

From March, instant cup noodles will be banned at school cafeterias nationwide. The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA)식품의약품안전청 announced last week that it decided to remove junk foods from schools that are high in calories but low in nutrition. Elementary, middle and high schools all across the country will stop selling 90 percent of instant cup noodles, 65 percent of sodas, and 22 percent of snacks.

The KFDA said that as young students’ obesity rate is increasing sharply and a growing number of Korean teens are suffering from various health problems, it will take actions to help them have healthier eating habits. Over the past 8 years, the number of obese students has more than doubled and fast foods, including instant cup noodles, are thought to be the main contributors.
According to a recent study, 5-9 year old boys and girls are obese 8.3 percent and 9.5 percent respectively. Also, 17.9 percent of 10-14-year-old boys are overweigh while 11.4 percent of girls of the same age group are obese. The study said that unhealthy and unbalanced eating habits and buying ready-made fast foods without knowing the contents increased the obesity rates.

In order to fight against child obesity, the government will set limits for selling high-calorie foods at schools. Snacks that contain more than 250 kilocalories, 4 grams of saturated fat, or 17 grams of sugar per serving will be prohibited. Foods with excessive amounts of sodium (over 1,000 milligrams per serving) or those that contain more than 500 kilocalories will also be banned. These snacks will be categorized as high fat, low nutrition foods.

Besides banning junk food at school cafeterias, the government will also prohibit the advertisement of high-calorie, low-nutrition foods during children’s prime television viewing time. The KFDA will ask restaurants and food makers to notify their consumers of the nutritional value of their foods, too.