School tuck shops bad for children’s health

IN recent times there has been much publicity in relation to the increased level of obesity among young people. The part that diet and lifestyle play in this increase is now a common topic on chat shows and in newspaper articles.

As a mother with four schoolgoing children and as someone who takes a keen interest in providing healthy meals for all the family, I have become increasingly dismayed by the proliferation of tuck shops in schools throughout the country.

These tuck shops, in the vast majority of cases, are little more than sugar, salt and fat shops, selling all kinds of ‘nasties,’ what most people regard as junk food and which the Department of Health is advising everyone to avoid, especially young people. Children, naturally enough, are easily tempted by these addictive, false-energy foods.