The Ministry of He alth officially applied to the Ministry of National Education to ban preschool and school trips in restaurants serving fast food. The author of this initiative is the Foundation of the Institute of Consumer Rights Protection, which revealed that McDonald's restaurants, in exchange for bringing a group of preschoolers and students to them, reward their guardians with free meals.
The teacher who takes a group of students to "McDonald's" is also the motive of one of the spots that advertise this network. On the other hand, there are educational institutions that do not hide, and even boast that the only purpose of a trip or "class exit" is a visit to a fast food restaurant, they publish photos of laughing children eating unhe althy food, and even teachers' opinions.
Such practices are opposed by the Ministry of He alth and in the application to the Ministry of Education it justifies: "Fast food products as well as fast food outlets cannot constitute a form of reward for the child and accompany the celebration of joint ceremonies" - justifies the Ministry of He alth in its application to the Ministry of Education to prohibit visits to preschool and school trips in fast food restaurants.
McDonald's defends himself. In an unofficial interview for one of the dailies, the company's headquarters in Poland explains that it does not conduct coordinated activities to attract school trips, that these are individual initiatives of private entrepreneurs, i.e. franchisees who manage 90 percent of all, Polish McDonald's restaurants. And that banning school trips from visiting their restaurants is detrimental to McDonald's, because the company is aware that their customers are children, so it changes the offer for them by introducing water, natural juices, fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products to the menu. The company also adds that school trips visit the network's venues because they are conveniently located and offer coach parking, and that customers trust their brand, food safety, cleanliness standards and service speed.
According to McDonald's, the decision to choose a restaurant where children eat during a trip should rest with parents and their arrangements with teachers. ButAccording to specialists dealing with the treatment of overweight and obesity in children, all, even the smallest, initiatives are important, aimed at reducing the consumption of unhe althy food among children and young people, and eating fast food promotes weight gain. Let us recall that, according to the Food and Nutrition Institute, approx. 22 percent. Polish children are overweight or already obese.
Experts appreciate the efforts of fast food restaurants that change the offer into a he althier one, but emphasize that without long-term educational activities aimed at parents, children will still eat unhe althy food. Creating a list of "forbidden premises" is doubtful and practically impossible, and schools should be educated how to feed children, not where - this is what the president of the Adam Smith.
The Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights is going to ask the Ombudsman for Children and the Parliamentary He alth Committee to support its initiative to ban fast food restaurant visits by preschool and school trips.
Based on: www.gazetaprawna.pl, www.pediatria.esculap.pl