|
SEOUL - CARBONATED drinks will no longer be sold in schools, libraries and museums in Seoul in efforts to combat growing obesity among South Korean students.
Vending machines - which use to account for two in three cans of soft drink sold daily in schools - will no longer stock the drinks. Likewise for the cafeterias and snack stands in schools.
A National Youth Commission (NYC) survey showed that teenagers consumed an average of half a can of soft drink a day in 2001, twice the amount consumed in 1998.
The World Health Organisation has warned that carbonated drinks might be linked to obesity, a problem afflicting one in 10 students at all levels here.
The rate has doubled since 2003 when one in 20 students aged between seven and 18 are affected.
Studies showed that seven in 10 obese Korean children grow up to become obese adults.
And experts have warned that obesity could lead to health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Seoul is the first city to take up a 2006 NYC recommendation that the sale of carbonated drinks be banned in schools.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said on Sunday: 'The ban will take place with immediate effect at elementary, middle and high schools as well as libraries and museums in Seoul.'
More than 1,000 schools in Seoul are affected by the ban, which will eventually affect other places popular among young South Koreans, such as amusement parks.
Last year, the Education Ministry announced that it would invest 1.7 billion won (S$2.6 million) to fight child obesity across the country.
Instant noodles and fried snacks will be the next targets in the fight against obesity.
Starting this year, fast-food outlets in Seoul must display charts showing nutrition information. There will also be limits imposed on fast-food advertisements.
The ban on fizzy drinks has also been well received by teachers and parents.
'The ban reinforces our message to students that soft drinks are bad for health,' said Madam Park Mi Young, 40, an elementary school teacher.
She is a member of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association which in 2006 had petitioned Parliament to make it compulsory for drinks manufacturers to place health warning labels on fast food and carbonated beverages.
Madam Kim Hyun Joo, 42, a housewife with two school-going daughters, welcomed the move.
One of her daughters, 15-year-old Lee Mi Yeon, said: 'It is no big deal. There are plenty of other choices such as fruit juices.'
Major South Korean beverage makers played down the impact of the ban.
'Our non-carbonated drinks such as lemonade are selling well and more than compensate for the loss in soft-drinks sales,' said a spokesman for Lotte Chilsung Beverage, the largest beverage maker in the country.
'We just need to come up with a new strategy to cater to changing consumer demands.'
Other major soft-drinks producers such as Haitai Beverage and Coca-Cola Korea dismissed the potential losses as negligible.
They said the sales of carbonated drinks in schools account for only 2 per cent of their total sales, with the bulk of revenue coming from sales at supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants.
leeteejong@yahoo.com
|
