South Korea's Food & Drug Administration wants to ban ads for fast food and snacks packaged with children’s toys from the Internet and television, according to Chosun Ilbo. Also sales of soda pop, high-fat snacks, and fast foods near schools will be prohibited. The plans were announced Tuesday in a report called “Comprehensive Plan for Children’s Food Safety.”
The plan includes asking for a law designating areas within a 200-meter radius of schools as “Green Food Zones” to keep children's food safe and wholesome.
The KFDA would also require that the amount of trans-fat, known to cause arteriosclerosis, be listed on all food products from December. It wants to reduce the amount of trans-fat in all food products to below 1 percent by 2010.
Chosun Ilbo: KFDA to Safeguard Food for Children
The percentage of overweight Koreans climbed to 36 percent of the population from 22.2 percent in 1995. The rate of overweight female and male children had doubled to 15.4 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively, by 2005, UPI has reported.
Meanwhile, Sweden is fighting to maintain its ban against advertising directed to children, so it will be interesting to see if South Korea can go ahead with this plan. Also, Denmark already has banned trans-fat in food. In both cases, Japan's government could do better. As for "Green Food Zones" it sounds like a terrific proposal, but surely Korean kids will run more than 200 meters if they really want a snack!
Blogs I Like
- Ad B: Japan Navigator
- Adventures of a (Swedish) Salariman in Tokyo
- Amy: Blue Lotus
- Boing Boing: Wonderful Things
- Brendan: UNU OurWorld 2.0
- Hiroko & Rick: Itadakimasu
- Jared B: Tokyo Green Space
- Joan: Popcorn Homestead
- Jon: Toshogu or As I See Japan... From L.A.
- Justin B: The Rational Pessimist (Climate & Risk)
- Kat: Food Adventures in Japan
- Ken: KenElwood in semi-rural Japan
- Mari: Watashi to Tokyo
- MTC: Shisaku
- Otakimura: In The Pines
- P: Pacific Islander
- Peko Peko: Kyoto Foodie
- Richard H: Spike Japan
- Risa & Kirk: Savory Japan
- Robert: Pure Land Mountain
- Shizuoka Gourmet
- Ten Thousand Things
- Tom: Kitchen Garden in Japan
Links I Like
- News: About Sweden in English
- News: BBC
- News: Der Spiegel (Germany) in English
- News: Deutche Welle
- News: FT Asia (UK, EU)
- News: Kyoto Journal (Japan)
- News: NHK World Society & Others (Japan)
- News: People's Daily (China)
- News: Telegraph (UK)
- News: The Local (Sweden)
- News: Yomiuri Online (Japan)
- News: Yonhap (Korea)
- NGOs/News: Organic Consumers Association (US)
- NGOs: Amnesty
- NGOs: Consumers Union (US) Food
- NGOs: Consumers Union of Japan
- NGOs: Greenpeace
- NGOs: Greenz.jp
- NGOs: Japan for Sustainability
- NGOs: Japan Organic Agriculture Association
- NGOs: Japan Vegetarian Society
- Shops: Alishan Organic Center
- Shops: Eco to Waza (GreenJapan)
- Shops: Warabe Mura
- Stuff: Japan Probe
- Treehugger
5 comments:
What a contrast to the USA where junk food/drink corporations are sold access directly to schools where, depending on the venue, be part of lunch programs, install vending machines, or display advertising. (anything to cut property taxes)
"In both cases, Japan's government could do better."
Oh really? How many obese Japanese children do you know? It seems to me that the Japanese taste for fish, healthy snacks and rice instead of wheat combined with their preference for small portions at mealtimes will help stave off the effects of the odd coke or hamburger. And in any case, most Japanese kids I know are trained to chose tea over soft drinks.
It was announced in 2005 that Japan's government would tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity.
9 percent of fourth-graders were diagnosed as obese in 2003, up from 5.9% in 1982, while 10.8% of seventh-graders were diagnosed as obese, up from 7.3%, according to an education ministry survey.
I mentioned the June 20-25, 2005 WHO meeting about obesity in Kobe, Japan on my blog previously.
http://www.who.int/nmh/media/obesity_expert_meeting/en/
I am highly sceptical of any data which "reveals" that one in ten Japanese children are obese (a term which I consider to mean a state of being overweight that has serious health implications). Also, as definitions of obesity depend on definitions of "ideal weight" its reasonable to assume that they are not constant across societies. What constitutes "obese" in Japan may be ideal elsewhere.
In any case, the stats do show a general "heavying" of the population (although only by a degree of 3 percent). Does this mean that fast food and fizzy drink advertising are the cause of weight gain among children in Japan?
Not necessarily, as there are other factors to consider. Smaller Japanese families combined with incresaed affluence (Japanese salaries have decreased over the last fifteen years, but consumer items have become cheaper relative to income. In terms of groceries, there is also far greater consumer choice than even 3 or 4 years ago.) may well have produced such a result.
The equation "McDs+Coke=obesity in the west, therefore McDs+Coke=obesity in Japan" is not necessarily true.
I do see some (a few) obese Japanese kids these days, although I agree that they are still probably eating more healthy food than their peers in many other developed countries. There are definitely more obese Japanese kids than when I first came here in 1988.
Having said that, I also agree that fast food and fizzy drink cannot be said to be the only culprit for weight gain among Japanese kids; clearly the lack of physical exercise is a factor.
MEXT says "The long-term decline in the physical fitness of children should be of grave concern for its effect on the formation of a bright, prosperous and dynamic society in the future."
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/org/f_sports.htm
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