Children’s health has been a fact of growing concern over the past 5-10 years. With a fast pace and ever developing country it becomes very easy to see why things such as fast food can become the norm. However, when we look at the bigger picture, less parents year on year will actually prepare a home cooked meal for their child as opposed to sticking something frozen in the oven, microwave or ordering in take out. With such a lapse daisy attitude towards the food their children are eating, we dread to think about how little they care about what drinks their children consume. Or in some cases, they don’t have access to basic healthy eating education and strategies to be able to decipher between something that looks healthy yet is filled with sugar and additives, or they’re left wondering why carbonated drinks are such a bad thing in the first place.
Europe’s obesity epidemic
By the end of 2018 the EU plans to ban all fizzy, soft and high in sugar drinks from its secondary schools. The EU houses an extremely large percentage of the world’s overall obesity epidemic. The ban on fizzy, sugary and soft drinks will impact over 50,000 secondary schools therefore affecting 40 million young children and adolescents. Critics have spoken out, questioning why it’s taken such a long time for this ban to extend into secondary schools when there has been one in primary schools for just over 10 years. With this regulation quickly becoming a standard regulation, many more guidelines were produced by the EU to promote healthy eating. But the fact that not much else has changed in the last 10 years begs to think where the priorities have been placed since then.
Responsibility to our children
Unless given the proper tools for learning, education and guidance on food and lifestyle choices from a very early age, children can be somewhat naive into what they’re consuming. The fact that as parents, carers or institutes we are evidently failing children due to the rising cases in obesity, diabetes and other health issues. It’s a good thing to talk about the nitty gritty of a situation rather than beat around the bush. This issue won’t change overnight, nor will it make a huge difference if just one of the factors change. But now the dialogue has opened to include schools, parents and families alike means that we are all able to work together effectively to come to a universal conclusion.
Implementing the plans
The end of 2018 is Europe’s final deadline for the implementation of this project. By working very closely with the people who provide these items to schools, we will be able to make a change. UNESDA salesforces will ensure that any soft drinks they provide to schools will be in agreement with any parent and school policies, as well as making sure that where possible, the drinks will be either no or very low in calories. With the plans set in stone, it’s clear to see that this necessary movement will benefit the whole of Europe.
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