Shanghai education authorities may ban sales of some high calorie foods in campus snack shops next year, including salty snacks and carbonated drinks, to curb a rise in obesity among students.

Shop owners will be required to keep junk food such as French fries, hamburgers and colas off shelves while no vendors are allowed to sell snacks near schools, the Shanghai Education Commission said at a health forum yesterday, the Shanghai Oriental Morning Post reported today.

But the report didn't say what punishments violators will face, if any.

The ban is a part of the commission's plan to improve local children's diets, which have been blamed for an increasing obesity rate among students.

The obesity rate among people ranging from seven years old to 22 reached 11.5 percent in Shanghai in 2005, 1.4 percentage points higher than that in 2000 while the rate among teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 was 14.8 percent, the highest among all age groups.

To offer more nutrient food to students, the commission will introduce a healthy food standard for lunches to all the schools across Shanghai, the report said.

The standard, which is still being drafted, will provide a clear definition of the suitable number of calories a student should eat at lunch, the report said.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health labeled fried chicken, puffed food, chocolate pies, instant noodles and ice cream as foods that children should only eat in limited amounts.

(Shanghai Daily via china.org.cn September 25, 2007)