THIS HOUSE BELIEVES THAT JUNK FOOD SHOULD BE BANNED FROM

SCHOOLS

GOVERNMENT (PRIME MINISTER)

A very good morning to Mr/Miss Speaker, honourable adjudicators, accurate timekeepers,

loyal teammates, worthy opponents and members of the floor. Today, we are debating on this
motion that this house believes that junk food should be banned from schools. We, from the
government, wholeheartedly agree with this motion. Before we continue with our stand today,
as the prime minister from the government, let me define our motion today. We believe that
junk food refers to food that has little or no nutritional values. It is high in calories and sugar
while low in fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals. Junk food is usually prepared in wraps and
packages. We define the word ban as to officially or legally prohibit. There should not be
any sight of junk food at schools. Canteens are not allowed to sell any form of junk food and
no one is allowed to possess junk food in schools. Lastly, the school is an institution of
education, typically primary and the secondary schools.

So, we, the government, are going to present our five arguments to you. I, as the prime
minister will present our first three arguments. Our second speaker will present to you two
more arguments while our third speaker will rebut the arguments from the opposition side.

Junk food should be banned from schools because it can affect students growth. As
stated in our definition, by school we refer to primary and secondary schools. Primary and
secondary schools consist of students from the age of 7-17. They need real nutrition crucially
for their growth. Junk food only makes their growing progress slower. The Institute Of
Medicine said that children ages 4 to 8 need at least 19 grams of protein daily and kids ages 9
to 13 need to consume a minimum of 34 grams dietary protein daily. According to Jill Corleone,
a dietitian and health coach, kids need calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B, zinc and magnesium to
support bone growth. Does junk food have all of these nutrients? No! Junk food is lacking all
of these nutrients. People who like junk food usually like them because of their taste. For
example, they like candies because candies are sweet. Watermelon is sweet too. Instead of
eating something tasty but unhealthy, why dont we eat something that is tasty and also help
with our growth? Hence, junk food should be banned from schools so that students practise
healthy eating habit which is beneficial for their own growth.

Apart from that, by banning junk food, we can also prevent sickness among students,
since junk food can lead to illness such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. In this
Obese Century, junk food consumption in the US, which is the country with the highest rate of
obesity, has increased dramatically with 25% of people now consuming predominantly junk
food diets, which partially contributes to the 60 million obese people in the US. Not only the
US, but Malaysia has the highest rate of obesity in Asia. According to a study in 2014 by The
Lancet, Malaysia was rated heavyweight at 45.3% of its population. Now, we can clearly see
that junk food is the major cause in the obesity epidemic.

Apart from obesity, illnesses such as diabetes and heart diseases are becoming more
common due to the increasing consumption of junk food. About 415 million people around the
world are having diabetes. In Malaysia, there were 3.3 million cases of diabetes in 2015. Over
consumption of junk food can increase ones risk of developing diabetes. Many junk foods
contain high volume of sugar. If high volume of sugar is consumed over a long period of time,
the body can stop producing enough insulin. Besides that, poor diet is also a major contributing
factor to the development of heart disease, commonly known as The Number One Killer.
Therefore, junk food should be banned from schools because a junk-food-free school could
help to decrease the occurrence of these chronic diseases.

Our third argument today is that junk food not only leads to sickness, it leads to poor
academic performance as well. In order for a child to reach his or her fullest potential,
nutrients from quality food are crucial. Unfortunately, many children are not getting the
nutrients they need. As I have just mentioned, junk food contains excessive sugar and fat.
According to Time Magazine, in the US, almost 40% of the childrens diet come from added
sugars and unhealthy fats. Furthermore, one British study reported in the Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health revealed that children who ate a predominantly
processed food diet at the age of three had lower IQ scores at age 8.5. For each measured
increase in processed foods, participants had a 1.67-point decrease in IQ. Not only that, a recent
research published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics warns the public that regular junk food
intake may stunt a childs academic performance. It is further explained that junk food is low
in nutrients such as iron which is essential for cognitive development. Besides that, excessive
fat and sugar in junk food have bad effects on immediate memory and learning processes.

Besides the fact that junk food leads to poor academic performance due to its lack of
nutritional value, junk food, which is high in sugar, also causes sudden sugar high and sugar
crash. Although it may seem like junk food makes you feel awake and alert for a short period
of time, they actually cause more harm than good. Unlike carbohydrates which requires
relatively more time to be broken down into glucose, sugar found in junk food can be directly
absorbed into the bloodstream and be used to produce energy. However, when it can be
absorbed quickly by the body, it gets used up quickly as well. In other words, the student may
experience a temporary sugar high, which is quickly followed by a sugar crash, or the
feeling of tiredness, once all the energy has been burnt. The student will start to lose focus and
concentration in his or her studies. Due to a sudden sugar high caused by junk food, a 2009
study published in the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that children who
indulged in a diet high in junk food were more likely to be hyperactive than those who did not.
Hyperactive children generally lack focus and may not be able to concentrate on simple tasks
and of course affects their academic performance.

With all the arguments presented, we, from the government side strongly agree with
the motion that junk food should be banned from schools! Thank you.