NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 16, 2005: Schoolchildren in Delhi seem to be finally learning to eat right and their latest mantra reads: “Think brown.” And if the first detailed adherence report submitted by Delhi schools is anything to go by, educational institutions here have finally shifted to the menu chart prescribed by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), replacing calorie-packed, zero-nutritious food high on sodium, fat and nitrites with a wholesome “brown meal.” While this latest stock taking has brought much cheer to health watchers and parents, sale of aerated drinks continues to remain a worry with some schools expressing their inability to do away with the drink completely. “Three years after the ban on sale of junk food and aerated drinks in school canteens it is only now that schools are finally showing signs of adhering to the prescribed menu,” says AIIMS dietician Rekha Sharma, who had outlined the menu for Delhi schools. Junk food, according to physicians, does more harm than good to the body. They have little or no nutrition value and are potentially harmful to health. Physicians have been for long wanting this category of food out of school canteens. An alarm was sounded after research on the health status of school students showed a worrying trend. According to the research data from AIIMS and the Nutrition Foundation of India (NFI), bad eating habit formed at the school canteen were seen to be the breeding ground for lifestyle diseases later in life. Worse, children in Delhi showed signs of obesity, hypertension and even heart diseases, notes the research.
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