#draft 3 arguementative essay : should the sale of junk food......

The word ‘junk food’ is mainly used to describe any food that contains low nutritional value which includes take away foods, pre-packaged meals, and sugary snack food (Tran 2005). Statistics shows that, for the past 30 years, the nutritional value of food taken by the Australian children had fall gradually (Tran 2005). Now, even worse more than 50% of Australian children prefer to buy junk foods for their lunch (Tran 2005). ‘It is believe that the habit of eating junk foods will bring bad effects in the children’s’ behaviour’ (Smith 2005, p.3). They blame a lot of people including the school canteen. Thus, the sale of junk food in school canteen should be banned as junk food is unhealthy, create a bad eating habit and litter problems.


Junk food is said to be unhealthy as it contains low nutritional value which comes from the chemical additives that helps to enhance the flavour and colour (Smith 2005). These additives can cause behavioural problems especially in children (Smith 2005). The problem is made worse by the fact that most young people do not get enough physical activity (Tran 2005). This can lead to an increase in childhood obesity (Smith 2005). According to The Food Show (2005), Caputo said that, research had shown that by reducing the unhealthy food in the children diets can improve their behaviour. Other than that, by offering foods high in fat and sugar, school canteens are actually contributing to the problem of youth weight gain (Tran 2005). Therefore, avoiding the children from buying junk foods by banning the sales of it is the best way for the children to stop.

Moreover, junk food creates bad habits in the children’s lifestyle if it is taken continuously. Other than that, consuming junk food in an excess might stop the children from taking healthy meal either at school or home. Based on the Australian Nutrition Journal in 2004, the percentage of children eating fat and sugar more than the recommended intake in 2003 is bigger than the percentage intake for fresh fruit and vegetables in the same year. If this continues to happen, our children might be suffering from a lot of health problems. Thus, it is important for them to understand that they have to make the right choice of eating.

Lastly, fast food packaging is the major contributor to litter problems (Smith 2005). In The Food Show (2005), Green noted that, when junk foods were sold at the canteen the school had a major problem with litter – there were cans, crisp packets, cantons and plastics container everywhere. Furthermore, it increases the cleaning costs and gives bad image of our communities (Smith 2005). Therefore, banning the sales of junk foods would really help preventing the children from buying them.

In a nut shell, it is important for the children to eat a healthy meal in their daily life. In The Food Show (2005), Green noticed that, there are improvements in the students’ behaviour in class when the sales of junk food are removed from the school canteen. The most important is that the eating habits of the children will change. Other than that, the litter problems too can be resolve. Therefore, the sale of junk food in school canteens should be banned.