Kabayan stops sale of junk food to minors

KABAYAN, Benguet -- The legislative body here is helping the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH) in further protecting children’s health while in school through banning the selling of junk foods within school campuses.

The Municipal Council recently passed ordinance 54, series of 2013, which bans every vendor from selling any kind of junk food to pupils. Once the vendors insist on selling these items, they will face a fine and/or imprisonment even on the first offense.

Members of the council observed that while parents, the DepEd and DOH had been doing their tasks in protecting the kids’ health, this move is usually in vain when the children go to school wherein most of the unhealthy foods are sold.

In order to empower the efforts the parents and the government agencies had done, the local government unit exercised its function for the welfare of the children.

The order will penalize violators with a fine of P1,000 or an imprisonment of not more than two months or can be both (depends on the court’s judgment) for the first offense. The second offense will be a fine of P1,500 and/or an imprisonment of not more than four months, or both. The third and subsequent offenses will be P2,000 fine and/or imprisonment of not more than six months, or both.

Unhealthy or junk food is an informal term applied to some food that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value (i.e. containing “empty calories”); to products with nutritional value, but also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all.

Junk food are typically ready-to-eat convenience foods containing high levels of saturated and fats, salt, or sugar, and little or no fruit, vegetables, or dietary fiber; and are considered to have little or no health benefits. Common junk foods include salted snack foods like chips (crisps), candy, gum, most sweet desserts, fried fast food and carbonated beverages (sodas) as well as alcoholic beverages. High-sugar cereals, particularly those targeted at children, such as fruit candies, are also classified as junk food.

DOH officials had earlier explained junk food consumption alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs.

After many weeks on a junk food diet, the pleasure centers of our brains become desensitized, requiring more of the junk food for pleasure.