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It’s difficult to control kids with a sweet tooth. Take soft drinks, for instance – all that fizz, (artificial) flavours, and sweeteners are hard for them to resist. Individual freedom is sacrosanct. But when it comes to children, they need a lot of nudging and prodding to make the right food choices. But it is difficult to reform behaviour, given the glitz of advertising and ubiquity soft drinks have come to command in daily life.

In that context, a recent regulation by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) banning sale of carbonated and energy drinks at school premises is commendable. The ban, which reportedly includes both public and private schools in Lahore, will come into effect post-summer vacations in August/September. The ban extends to food stalls within a 100-meter radius around schools. PFA is instead encouraging schools to introduce fresh fruits, milkshakes, and dairy products at schools.

This is a much-needed first step to ensure children don’t get addicted to unhealthy food choices early on. Abundant medical literature is available on the negative side effects of soft drinks. High in “false” calories and no-good sugar, carbonates smother children’s appetite. So kids end up having little of the required balanced, nutritious diet. Carbonated and sugar-sweetened beverages have been linked among children to tooth decay, calcium deficiency, digestive imbalances, and in extreme cases, diabetes.

No responsible parents would choose foods that lead to their child having stunted physical and mental growth. But school canteens that sell carbonated and sugary beverages undercut that mandate. PFA is targeting where it matters. Let’s hope the directive will be implemented without discrimination and its scope widened to other cities as well. Other provinces need to take cue.

The case of soft drinks is another instance where what is good for the corporate is really damaging for the country. The cola makers are doing great business in Pakistan. As per Euro monitor data, cola sales in Pakistan were Rs50 billion in 2014 (563 million liters). Sales were forecast to reach Rs80 billion by 2019 (825 million liters). Roughly 90 percent of this market is controlled by multinationals Coca Cola Beverages and PepsiCo.

Much of this growth is expected to come from youngsters. But a school-centric crackdown on carbonated and sugary beverages can stop that menace in its tracks. As per Pakistan Demographic and Healthy Survey (2013), nearly 26 percent of Pakistan’s population fell between five and fourteen years of age – that’s more than 50 million school-age kids. (Of course, not all of those kids are in school. And the country also has other nutrition issues on its plate).

It is important to note that soda sales are declining in the developed West. For instance, US soda drinks sales fell to a 30-year low in 2015, Fortune magazine reported last year. Health regulators and city governments are taking actions to curb their consumption. As soda fizzles, cola firms in the West have taken to offering “healthy beverages”, such as bottled water, sports drinks, juices, and flavoured water.

World Health Organisation, UN’s chief health body, has also come out openly against such beverages. In a report last year, it urged national governments to tax sugary drinks to “lower consumption and reduce obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay”. WHO also noted, “at least a 20 percent increase in retail price of sugary drinks would result in proportional reductions in consumption of such products.” Several countries now have sugar tax on the drinks, with proceeds, in some cases, subsidising healthy food.

Folks will do what they want to do, but healthy food choices early on can have a better chance of sticking. Human nature is that it wants more of what it cannot have. So the downside of the PFA’s campaign is that those kids who are addicted to soft drinks would still find a way to quench their thrust. The key lies in effective enforcement, which has been the Achilles heel of Pakistan’s public sector.

But in the interest of a healthy future generation, the crackdown on soft drinks has to be a part of a wider health awareness and nutrition campaign. Don’t just go against soft drinks, but also target unhealthy food choices, such as junk food, oily/salted snacks, and sugary confectionaries. The goal is to bring about positive behaviour change so that children consume the right kind and adequate amounts of healthy. Both the public and private sector must play their due role. Or else, the kids won’t be alright.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017

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