Dear Editor
I would like to response to the problem of childhood obesity. Kids nowadays are crazy about junk food. Thus, the number of chubby students in Hong Kong keeps on increasing. In order to tackle the problem, the concerned parties think those unhealthy and fattening snacks should be banned in all primary and secondary school tuck shops because it is the crux of the problem. However, have they thought about it deeply?
Don't they know that the tuck shops at schools are not the only place for children to buy snacks? In fact, I am quite sure the children will ask their parents to buy munchies for them to school. Not only will this method not work, but also the parents will spend much more money on buying snacks in the megastore because the food outside school are more expensive. More than that, this may even attract them to eat more because there are thousands of snacks for them to choose. Is that what they want?
Furthermore, what is the definition of healthy or unhealthy food? It is hard or even impossible to distinguish between them. For instance, research shows that eating certain amount of chocolates can make people feel happy because of the caffeine inside the 'junk food'. Thus, should it be banned? On the other hand, if one eats loads of apples at a time, does it do him any good? Whether or not the food is healthy depends on the quantity we take in.
In order to let students become healthier, why don't we strike a balance? Tuck shops in the school can control the quantity of snacks bought by the students but not ban all of them because students have the right to choose what they want and teachers can guide them.
The plan to ban unhealthy food in school tuck shops should be amended before we really put it into practice. By doing so, we can achieve the possible best result, and benefit the children we care for
Yours faithfully
Zoe Yau