Srinagar, March 4 : As a rising health concern, many private schools in the valley have banned junk food inside schools, a move that was welcomed by parents.
In Oasis Higher Secondary School in Nowgam and Gogji Bagh, Srinagar, the authorities have banned junk food for students.
Parents have been told to give children home-made snacks and fresh fruits instead of junk food. “It is a good step taken by the schools and will help save the health of our children in the long run.
It will also inculcate good eating habits among children from the beginning,” said Madiha, whose children study in the school.
In 2017, a study by two doctors from the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) stated that Kashmir had an alarming prevalence of obesity among children which they attributed to lack of physical activity and high intake of junk food. One in three children in Kashmir is either overweight or obese, the study titled “Prevalence of obesity and overweight in schoolchildren in Kashmir” had said.
The study that measured weight of over 9,000 schoolchildren (between 5 and 15 years) across Kashmir’s schools has stated that 34.5% boys and 38.4% girls were overweight and obese reported TNS.
