“Junk foods” joints increasing in the city

Shillong, Oct 14: Shillong is increasingly becoming home of “junk and fast foods” as we see many makeshift outlets dishing out these poisonous food and people, especially the younger generation, gluttonously eating what are considered to be injurious to their health. Canteens in some of the educational institutions are even selling these “junk foods.”

What constitutes junk food is also a grey area. Aerated drinks, crisps, burgers, soft drinks and chips  are considered as junk foods not to speak of the poisonous “alu-muri” and “puchka.”

There seems to be no authority to either regulate or stop the vendors from selling poisonous junk food, especially those in front of educational institutions, localities and market places.

School and college going youngsters are especially fond of this” killer food” and   sometimes even their parents or guardian joins in them and are seen gobbling away the “unhygienic food.”  It is a common sight to see children and adults crowding the temporary “alu-muri,” “puchka” stalls and happily partaking these junk foods without giving a thought to the harms it will cause to their system.

However, the trend of having junk food is nationwide. A recent international study revealed that the incidence of juvenile diabetes is on the rise in Indian metros, around 20 per cent of school-going children in India are overweight and Indians are among the world most depressed in the world.

The union government has also realized the damaging effect of these “junk foods” and has decided that from March next year school canteens will have to take off what are considered as junk foods from their menu. – By Our Reporter