During the ten days or so, there have been several newspaper reports of a decision to ban the sale of sugary drinks in the nation's public schools.
For at least the last ten years, all the individuals who served as Ministers of Health have expressed concern over the use of sugary drinks in schools. While some schools took the initiative and promoted a healthy lifestyle by reforming their canteens, conducting Wellness programmes, and observing special days of emphasis, for example, World Diabetes Day, many schools did very little to promote healthy living.
The position of the Ministry of Education on the fare in school canteens was stated in a document as far back as ten years ago. In its Draft White Paper on Standards and Guidelines for the Operation of all Schools, January, 2007 in the section on Dietary Services, the following statements can be found on page 74:
Paragraph 3 – All school cafeterias and approved vendors must serve nutritious snacks, balanced meals and beverages as approved by the National Schools Dietary Services.
Paragraph 4 – Foods that are high in sugar, salt, sodium, monosodium glutamate, fat or caffeine content shall not be sold at schools.
Those paragraphs were contained in a January 2007 document. Hopefully the ban will be implemented, and the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education will initiate health promotion activities for parents and students and also the general population.