Argumentative essay (junk food) draft 1

Argue either for or against the banning of the sale of junk food in school canteens.

Owing to parents’ fear regarding children’s health, abetted by nutritionist and media, whether the schools should or should not ban the sale of junk food in school canteens has been getting more contradictory among the public. According to Family Journal (2005), junk food refers to any food that is perceived to be unhealthy and of low nutritional value. The nutritional value of food eaten by Australian children has been dropping continuously over the past 3 decades. (Weekend News 2005) According to the statistics provided by Health Foundation (2005), 6 out of 13 most popular snack foods are of low nutritional value and the other 3 are of moderate nutritional value. With the increasing consumption of junk food which will lead to various drawbacks, I strongly believe that the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned.

Firstly, the primary effect brought by the consumption of junk food can be linked directly to childhood obesity. Junk foods such as potato chips and chocolate bars can raise the kilojoules intake, leading to weight gain. (Weekend News 2005) By supplying foods high in fat and sugar, school canteens are actually contributing to youth weight gain. (Reynolds 2005) According to the statistics published by Australian Nutrition Journal (2004), percentage of Australian children aged 12-14 that intake sugar more than level of recommended is far outweigh the percentage of children that consume in optimum level. This can lead to even serious health problems such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers. (Weekend News 2005) In short, the sales of junk food in school canteens should be banned to prevent the worsening of obesity among youth.

Consequently, junk foods intake provides no benefits but lead to unhealthy growth and development among children. The chemical additives, ingredients in manufacturing junk foods to enhance flavour and colour has been experimented to trigger various behavioural problems in children, such as hyperactivity and poor concentration.(Family Journal 2005) According to Caputo (2005), research shows that there is improvement on children’s behaviour by having reducing amount of unhealthy foods in children’s diet. Students became calmer after lunch and showed improvement in their behaviour after the removal of junk food and soft drinks from school canteen. (Green 2005) Therefore, to further hinder such behavioural problems, junk foods should be banned in school canteen.

Furthermore, the selling of junk food at school canteens should be banned as it is the major contributor to litter problems. Cans, crisp packets, cartons and plastic containers are scattered all over the school compounds with the increasing availability of junk food at school. Schools that have reduced the sales of junk food have also reduced their litter problems. (Family Journal 2005) According to Green (2005), the reduction in litter has benefited the school groundsman by helping them to spend less time on cleaning the grounds, enabling them to contribute more time on maintenance projects that improve the school. Overall, in order to provide a better environment for schooling, sales of junk food in school canteen should be banned.

As a conclusion, the sales of junk foods in school canteens has leaded to various serious problems such as childhood obesity, unhealthy growth and littering problems. Although it does generate profits for the school, but again, I would like to strengthen my stand of going against the sales of junk food in school canteens as the future of healthy children is much more important than the profits that it can generate.