No junk food, just poor diet

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no such thing as junk food, only a poor diet, a health expert said regarding a bill filed by Sen. Lito Lapid seeking to ban the sale of junk food in schools.

After a long study, it has been noted that there is no clear-cut definition of the so-called junk foods, said Dr. Rodolfo Florentino, scientific adviser for the International Life Sciences Institute for Southeast Asia (ILSI), at the sidelines of the last series of H2010: Symposium on Hydration in one of the hotels in Zamboanga City.

“There is no such thing as a junk food, only junk diet,” Florentino said.

He said he does not agree with the Senate bill banning the sale of junk foods in schools.

“The lawmakers will definitely have a difficulty identifying junk foods because there are no specific criteria. Soft drink, for instance, is not an empty calorie-based drink. The so-called junk foods even carry certain nutrients needed by the body,” Florentino said.

Senate Bill 2517, or the “School Nutrition and Balanced Diet Act of 2010,” proposed by Lapid, mandates canteens inside and outside schools to limit the food and drinks that they are serving to those that meet only the nutritional needs of the students.

Among those initially cited as junk foods were chips, burger, pizza, hotdog, fries, tacos and soft drinks.

Violators of the junk food bill may either face imprisonment or be fined up to P500,000.

Florentino and other health experts at the symposium also said that obesity is not caused only by too much eating but also by the lack of physical activity and genetics.