A Paper on Problems Generated By Junk Food in India

India “The Land of Rich Heritage and Culture” with its vast food variety is now at the verge of declining its food habits. Moreover, the food which is common among youth is “JUNK FOOD”. Junk food is a pejorative term for food containing high levels of calories, salts and fats with little protein, vitamins or minerals. They have a significant impact on student’s diet and weight as many students consume more than half of their daily calories as junk food in canteens of schools and colleges. According to WHO (World Health Organization) reports, in India, more than 3% of the population is in the obese category. Obesity is an emerging major public health problem throughout the world among adolescents. Excess consumption of junk food leads to the wide variety of health disorders like obesity, food poisoning, dental diseases and many more included angina pectoris, stroke, depression, diabetes, asthma etc. all of which sometimes contribute to premature death of an individual. This paper is concern about the obesity crisis in India which can be reduced by developing more and more educated society, implementing strong nutritional standards in schools and colleges, decreasing the advertising rates of junk food and some changes in the government tax policy. All these points are used as an instrument to discourage consumption of unhealthy foods such as sodas and junk food. This paper uses a basic method of optimization techniques i.e. simplex method to optimize or minimize the consumption of junk food in schools and colleges