A study from Cardiff University researchers says that getting children to follow healthy diet means that a ban on unhealthy eating is necessary.
The study examined the eating habits of children in 43 schools located in south Wales and south west England. The researchers asked 23 schools to set up fruit tuck shops. These shops sold a variety of fruit at a fixed price, but there were no sweets for sale.After one year it was found that the tuck shops had sold 70,000 pieces of fruit. The students were asked about their fruit and snack intake during the previous day. The study found that tuck shops alone were unable to discourage unhealthy eating, but they were very effective in schools that had a fruit only policy.
"Our results suggest that children are more willing to use fruit tuck shops and eat fruit as a snack at school if they and their friends are not allowed to take in unhealthy snacks," said Professor Laurence Moore, from the Cardiff Institute. "This highlights the importance of friends' behaviour and of peer modeling, and of the need for schools to put policies in place to back up health interventions."
However the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) was not pleased with this study and said it was not in favor of imposing on kids.
Source-Medindia
RAS/L
