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Health activists seek ban on smoking, junk food

Staff Reporter

Present a charter of demands to Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The young health activists participating in the "Global Youth Meet on Health-2006" presented a charter of recommendations to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the concluding ceremony of the event in the Capital on Sunday.

The charter was presented to Ms. Dikshit by Wen Xing from Singapore and Prashant Gupta from Visakhapatnam. Addressing the gathering of over 200 young activists from as many as 37 countries, Ms. Dikshit said events like GYM-2006 should be organised on a regular basis as they were of great importance when it came to highlighting health issues.

Those who participated in the event, which was organised by voluntary organisation HRIDAY-SHAN, on Sunday set up "Youth For Health", a global health advocacy network that would provide a platform for the youth across the globe to buttress the policies for protection and improvement of the health of their generation.

Following four days of intensive sessions and interactions with over 60 experts from India and the other parts of the world, the children arrived at certain recommendations. The charter of recommendations includes a comprehensive ban on smoking at public places to reach the goal of a smoke-free world. It seeks to urge celebrities to refrain from promoting unhealthy products like carbonated drinks and junk food.

It also advocates regulation of food industry to eliminate the use of trans-fats, lower the quantity of salt and sugar in food products.

While the charter recommends adoption of policies that help in an increased availability of fruits and vegetables at affordable prices, it also suggests provision of nutritious mid-day meals in schools and healthy food in school canteens.

The young activists felt that sex-related information should be "imported" to schools through an open educational process to promote a responsible sexual behaviour thereby preventing spread of HIV infection.

The set of recommendations also includes promotion of gender equality in all walks of life; road safety measures and policies promoting peace and non-violent resolution of conflicts.

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