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<h3>Obesity rates are on the rise in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2019-10-11/obesity-rates-depend-on-where-you-live/10196154">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/obesity/WHO_TRS_894/en/">across the world</a>. For years, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/diet/push-to-ban-junk-food-at-schools/news-story/6f08effc2e59f68c17b88736305edac4">public health</a> and <a href="https://ama.com.au/media/ban-junk-food-marketing-children">medical</a> groups have called for schools to ban sales of junk foods as one way to stem the tide.</h3>
<p>Selling fatty or sugary food and drinks has been banned in Western Australia’s public schools since 2007. A <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/education/curtin-university-study-shows-wa-school-junk-food-ban-success-ng-b88757303z">2018 study</a> found WA children were eating healthier as a result of the ban. But it also found some regional schools were struggling to comply with it.</p>
<p>Some countries, including <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/06/28/junk-food-ban-canada_a_23006110/">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/health/chile-soda-warning-label.html">Chile</a>, have banned junk food in schools. Should Australia do the same?</p>
<p>We asked five experts.</p>
<h2>Four out of five experts said yes</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=1000&;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=754&;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=99&;fit=crop&;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=30&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=99&;fit=crop&;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=15&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=99&;fit=crop&;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=125&;fit=crop&;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=30&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=125&;fit=crop&;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315871/original/file-20200218-11005-1x9b2hg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=15&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=125&;fit=crop&;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
<p><strong><em>Here are their detailed responses:</em></strong></p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-460" class="tc-infographic" style="border: none;" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/460/e96804023cced1839f737d3939d07e04d764f60f/site/index.html" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr />
<p><em>If you have a “yes or no” education question you’d like posed to Five Experts, email your suggestion to: sasha.petrova@theconversation.edu.au</em></p>
<hr />
<figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=754&;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=399&;fit=crop&;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=30&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=399&;fit=crop&;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=15&;auto=format&;w=600&;h=399&;fit=crop&;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=45&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=501&;fit=crop&;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=30&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=501&;fit=crop&;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210303/original/file-20180314-113452-h7un11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&;q=15&;auto=format&;w=754&;h=501&;fit=crop&;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
<p><em>Disclosures: Gary Sacks receives funding from the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and VicHealth.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131566/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/team">Madeleine Rojahn</a>, Editorial intern, <em><a href="http://www.theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/team#sasha-petrova">Sasha Petrova</a>, Section Editor: Education, <em><a href="http://www.theconversation.com/">The Conversation</a>. </em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-ban-junk-food-in-schools-we-asked-five-experts-131566">original article</a>.</p>

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