Steve’s Student Blog

A tough approach to junk food

The UK has seen a pretty tough approach to junk food, as the government has introduced the famous ’Change4Life’ campaign to introduce healthy eating and exercise in order to make our nation more healther.

However the president of Mexico has decided on a more tougher approach by banning junk food altogether in its public and private schools. According to an article in the Telegraph, and another article in Care2, Mexico will ban all junk food in all of its 220,000 public and private elemantary and middle schools, which serve 25 million students. Felipe Calderon , president of Mexico, on his radical change said “Unfortunately, we are the country with the biggest problem of childhood obesity in the entire world.”However there does seem to be a world of difference between Mexico’s school nutrition with others. Despite the UK also having problems with obesity, our schools often have hot meals prepared in the school kitchens, however Mexican schools didn’t do this. Instead vendors would sell fatty and unhealthy snacks to children, including atole, tamarind candy, soft drinks, fried tacos and other sweets.

Mexican schools are already adapting to these new changes, as water, fruit juice and low fat milk are to replace the unhealthy soft drinks. But there are problems with regards to exercise, as three quarters of Mexican schools don’t have a playground or gym, that must be something for them to figure out.

I think it’s great that Mexico are implementing tough guidelines to deal with the health of their children, and I’m sure parents will try and change too, taking their children to the park for a game or two or even to the beach to make sandcastles sitting on a blue beach towel.