Theme:

  • Indian government launched ‘Mission Poshan 2.0‘ recently to strengthen nutritional outcomes. On the other hand, several people are becoming obese due to consuming too much junk food.
  • ‘The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’ brought ‘Food Safety and Standards (Safe food and healthy diets for Schoolchildren) regulations‘, 2019 to stop sales of junk food inside schools and within 50 meters of school campuses. But still, the consumption of junk food is high. So, there is a debate on whether junk food should be totally banned.

Yes – Junk food should be banned:

  • Junk food is not good for health. In general, junk foods are highly processed foods and contains more calories and fewer nutrients when compared with healthy food. Eating too much junk food causes obesity. And obesity leads to several health problems such as heart diseases, digestion issues etc.
  • It also affects mental health. As junk food slows down metabolism, it makes us lazy and thereby causes stress and anxiety.
  • Junk food is addictive in nature, which leads to increased consumption of junk food, once we get used to it. So, even if we want to eat it in moderation, it may not be possible for many of us.
  • Ban on junk food forces food companies to manufacture healthy snacks and thereby we can promote healthy eating.
  • UK banned advertising of junk food online and till 9 pm on TV. This step was taken to mitigate the influence of advertising on children’s food habits. World Health Assembly too reiterated the importance of regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods.
  • These days, due to the changing nature of jobs many people are doing desk jobs and following a sedentary lifestyle. On top of it, consuming junk food is very risky.
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No – Junk food should not be banned:

  • Banning junk food is against the right to choice of food.
  • If we eat junk food in limited qualities, it won’t be much problem. Health problems arise when we take too much junk food. So, junk food itself is not the problem, but limiting the intake is the key.
  • Not everyone agrees on what is junk food and what is not. Even some junk food products are marketed as healthy snacks. So, banning junk food is not a practical solution.

Conclusion:

Banning junk food completely may be against the right to choice of food. Eating in moderation may not affect health. But taking steps to not allowing junk food companies to mislead children is a good thing. Banning junk food near schools is a great step towards that goal. Incentivising healthy food intake will encourage children and also adults to eat healthily.

Your Turn…

Do you think junk food should be banned? What’s your take on this topic? Express your thoughts through the comment section below. And subscribe to our blog to read answers to the trending GD topics.

References:

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7 Comments

  • Praveen priyadarshi, Oct 9, 2023 @ 3:49 pm Reply

    Very wonderful.
    But it’s conclusion is quiet not interesting.
    But however very good

  • vidhi, Apr 22, 2022 @ 10:07 pm Reply

    i agree with all of you but practically it should be banned. right?

  • Lê Châu Ngọc Ánh, Oct 30, 2021 @ 8:16 am Reply

    Junk food is not harmful for everyone but only for those who consume it on a regular basis moreover there are millions of people in the world who have their livelihood dependent on this industry so banning it altogether might not be ethical however corrective measures should be definitely enabled and the country should learn from the healthiest countries in the world and try to follow their footsteps on how they are ethically tackling this issue.Everybody knows that junk food is unhealthy but still people consume it because of its taste. Consuming a large amount of junk food on daily basis may cause many serious health issues. I also think banning is not a practical solution. But promoting junk food as a healthy food should be banned. Sometimes junk food companies add some secret chemical to make the food addictive and to sell more junk food. This type of thing should be banned. Government can make a law to write like “consuming this food too much may cause serious health problem” in front of the packaging of junk food to make people aware of the bad effect of junk food.Yes, I agreed for that what are said in the above. Even me also one of the junk food lover. I like more and more to have junk foods because it is very tasty. Where taste will be there offcourse, all will love to eat no matter whether it is healthy food or junk food. I will tell why all love to eat Junk foods. Why means because of the taste, the smell and the look, usually junk foods made very colourful. So seeing that all will get attract to that. In that more children’s. But there is no age limit even senior citizen also likes to eat.
    Coming to the point of banning junk foods. Yes, it should be ban but not all junk foods and shops.
    *That who are selling junk foods illegally and without awareness of safety health.
    * who sells beside or near to the dirty places and
    * who prepare junk foods without cleanness and without using proper and clean equipments or ingredients.
    *It should not be sell near to the school I agree.
    Instead of banning totally they should ban these type of junk foods and also should take some precautions so that parents can avoid/control their children’s having more junk foods on such places. Others can also control having more junk foods. There should be a one particular shop on one particular place with clean and neat. That we all can consume with limitation and we can also fulfill our likes. Totally banning will affect the business of the person who runs his family on this income and also who sells prominently, neatly and with cleanness.
    Conclusion-
    Having more junk foods are also very dangerous and without having junk foods is also very difficult. That to nowadays due to covid need to be very careful before having junk foods. It may childrens or seniors.
    I like more junk foods but I don’t like to have outside because seeing all that dirty stuffs and how they prepare I stopped to have junk foods outside.

  • Parameshwari J, Aug 28, 2021 @ 7:31 am Reply

    Yes, I agreed for that what are said in the above. Even me also one of the junk food lover. I like more and more to have junk foods because it is very tasty. Where taste will be there offcourse, all will love to eat no matter whether it is healthy food or junk food. I will tell why all love to eat Junk foods. Why means because of the taste, the smell and the look, usually junk foods made very colourful. So seeing that all will get attract to that. In that more children’s. But there is no age limit even senior citizen also likes to eat.
    Coming to the point of banning junk foods. Yes, it should be ban but not all junk foods and shops.
    *That who are selling junk foods illegally and without awareness of safety health.
    * who sells beside or near to the dirty places and
    * who prepare junk foods without cleanness and without using proper and clean equipments or ingredients.
    *It should not be sell near to the school I agree.
    Instead of banning totally they should ban these type of junk foods and also should take some precautions so that parents can avoid/control their children’s having more junk foods on such places. Others can also control having more junk foods. There should be a one particular shop on one particular place with clean and neat. That we all can consume with limitation and we can also fulfill our likes. Totally banning will affect the business of the person who runs his family on this income and also who sells prominently, neatly and with cleanness.
    Conclusion-
    Having more junk foods are also very dangerous and without having junk foods is also very difficult. That to nowadays due to covid need to be very careful before having junk foods. It may childrens or seniors.
    I like more junk foods but I don’t like to have outside because seeing all that dirty stuffs and how they prepare I stopped to have junk foods outside.

  • rahul sribastab, May 5, 2021 @ 10:29 am Reply

    Everybody knows that junk food is unhealthy but still people consume it because of its taste. Consuming a large amount of junk food on daily basis may cause many serious health issues. I also think banning is not a practical solution. But promoting junk food as a healthy food should be banned. Sometimes junk food companies add some secret chemical to make the food addictive and to sell more junk food. This type of thing should be banned. Government can make a law to write like “consuming this food too much may cause serious health problem” in front of the packaging of junk food to make people aware of the bad effect of junk food.

  • Samreen, Mar 31, 2021 @ 11:56 pm Reply

    Taking junk food too heavily in the daily bases leads to health fluctuations. We should follow the diet as per the health conditions. Suppose you are foody for junk food take it in low quantity along with healthy food. Some times we need to listen our tounge at the same time our health so better to avoid taking too much of junk foods.

  • Siddharth Garg, Mar 19, 2021 @ 7:51 pm Reply

    Junk food is not harmful for everyone but only for those who consume it on a regular basis moreover there are millions of people in the world who have their livelihood dependent on this industry so banning it altogether might not be ethical however corrective measures should be definitely enabled and the country should learn from the healthiest countries in the world and try to follow their footsteps on how they are ethically tackling this issue.

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