1346008 Park Dasol (99-50)

No More Junk Food at School

Fast food chains like McDonald’s and KFC are all around us. Many people, including

students, enjoy eating fast food there, as it is served quickly, cheaply, and conveniently. However,

if this kind of unhealthy food is served in schools, would you let your kid eat at the school

cafeteria? If I were a parent, I would never let my kid eat unhealthy food at school, and I would

ask the school to ban serving fast food for two reasons.

First, unhealthy food like fast food is detrimental to students, and schools have a

responsibility to protect their students from unhealthy foods. As it is widely known, fast food

contains a lot of harmful chemicals such as MSG and other preservatives. When these chemicals

are consumed by young students for a long period of time, it can cause several diseases. For

example, from the documentary film ’Supersize Me’, we can conclude that eating fast food in our

daily lives can make us obese, affect the function of our livers, and harm our bodies overall. If

students are allowed to eat unhealthy food at school, like in the film, their bodies will be affected

negatively. Therefore, a school, which plays an important role in the growth of the students, has

to try its best to protect its students’ health by providing healthy food with fresh ingredients

without any chemical additives.

Second, consuming fast food at school can change students’ eating habits. Fast food is

known to contain a lot of stimulating chemicals which are addictive, while healthy food barely

contains chemicals and tastes blander than fast food. If students consistently consume pungent

food with chemicals at school, they would be accustomed to food that is only stimulating. As a

consequence, they would prefer eating unhealthy food, as they would find the taste of healthy

food bland. The reason why this is problematic is that it can cause malnutrition and a lack of

essential vitamins and minerals in students’ bodies. Thus, a school should help students build

desirable eating habits by providing a well-balanced menu at the school cafeteria.

People who support schools' serving unhealthy food like fast food argue that it is

freedom of individuals to eat fast food at school. This seems to be reasonable, but considering

the responsibility and role of a school to protect its students’ health, banning junk food at school

is more preferable. Instead, students can enjoy eating hamburgers and French fries after the

school class as there is no regulation outside the classroom.

In conclusion, there are some health-related reasons why schools should not allow

unhealthy food for their students. By allowing fast food at the school cafeteria, students can be

subjected to several diseases, including obesity. Moreover, students might develop unhealthy

eating habits, which could finally lead to malnutrition in their bodies. Therefore, schools should

ban serving unhealthy food at their cafeterias for the health of their students.