Argumentative Essay - Junk Food (Final Version)

Argumentative Essay - Should the sale of junk food in school canteens be banned?

In the era of globalization, advance technologies in food industries have also claw their way up in the food market by making fast foods or commonly known as junk foods. Most dietitians agree that all food; if eaten in moderation can form part of a healthy diet. According to Smith (2005), junk food is used to describe any food that is perceivably unhealthy and of low nutritional value. Statistically shown, more than 50 percent of children are taking more than recommended intake of fats and sugar contents in foods. Therefore, I concur that the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned as it not only leads to health and litter problems, but also triggers behavioural problems.

First and foremost, intake of junk food may lead to excessive weight gain and other health-related problems. Junk food like take away food, mostly raise the kilo joule intake and causes weight gain. Moreover, this issue worsens as physical activity is not in the mindset of young generation these days. “Central University researcher Professor Steven Reynolds says that by offering foods high in fat and sugar, school canteens are actually contributing to the problem of youth weight gain.” (Weekend News 2005, p.6) A research made by Health Foundation in 2005, highlights that low nutritional value of snack foods are most popular compared to high and moderate nutritional value. Because of junk food, children are not well-nourished.

Secondly, litter problems are also a common incident occurring when there are sales of junk food in that particular area, especially in the school compound. Due to the packaging, junk foods are likely to cause litter problems. Litter not only causes a bad image of our communities but also increases cleaning costs and safety and health hazard. (Family Journal 2005) On the other hand, according to Green (2005), the school groundsman has more time to concentrate on maintenance projects that benefit the school and rather less time-consume cleaning the grounds. Therefore, junk food can contribute to litter problems.

Next, junk foods are actually cause behavioural problems. As most junk foods contain chemical additives, hyperactivity and poor concentration are such examples of behavioural problems in children. This is well supported by Caputo (2005) as and added, “Research shows that reducing unhealthy foods in children’s diets can improve their behaviour”. Another statement from Green (2005) says that teachers noticed a marked improvement in student’s behaviour in class and they became calmer after lunch. Thus, this proves that junk foods are the cause bad attitude among children.

All in all, junk foods are likely to cause children to gain weight and be disease-prone if they consume too much of them. Moreover, not only that they will be having a bad attitude-change but also will contributes to litter problems to the public. So, I sincerely hope that every school in the country will not belittle this issue and take immediate action to combat the existing problem before it is becoming a habit among our future leaders. Therefore, I restate my stance that I am supporting ban of the sale of junk foods in school canteens.

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