Q.1-10.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
Certain words have been printed in bold to
help you locate them while answering some questions.
One of the first declarations of the newly
elected government in June was a proposal to ban unhealthy or junk food
(defined as food high on fat, sugar and salt) in school canteens across the
country. This was followed up with an increase in the prices of soft drinks in
the recent budget.
This has been part of a long-standing demand of child
rights activists, nutritionists and public health experts to discourage the availability of fast food and other
food items containing unhealthy ingredients. This includes a Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) plea in the Delhi High Court demanding a ban on junk food and
carbonated drinks in schools and on their sale within a radius of 500 yards.
There is no disagreement among health and
nutrition experts that the ‘developed’ world is in the grip of an obesity
epidemic and ‘developing’ countries like India are fast following suit. The
World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that more
than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese in 2012
If left unchecked, this figure would rise to 70 million by 2015
While underweight continues to be a crucial
problem in terms of burden of disease in developing countries, obesity is fast
catching up and can hardly be ignored. In developing countries, the prevalence
of childhood obesity in preschool children is in excess of 30 per cent. Thus,
countries like India carry the ‘double burden’ of high levels of malnutrition
caused by food insecurity and growing levels of obesity caused by diets high in
sugar, oil and salt along with sedentary
lifestyle.
Obese children experience breathing difficulties,
increased risk of fractures, hypertension, early markers of cardiovascular
diseases, insulin resistance and psychological effects, and the resultant
non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, strokes and heart
disease are already contributing significantly to adult mortality. What is
critical is that in countries like India, it diverts family resources from
nutritious food to the empty calories of highly processed foods.
According to World Health Organization (WHO),
effective population-based childhood obesity prevention strategies include
restrictions on marketing of unhealthy food (biscuits and potato chips, for
instance) and non-alcoholic beverages (soft/carbonated drinks) to children.
Further, the issue of conflict of interest in
allowing the junk food industry to participate in policy-making has been
continuously raised by civil society, and partially addressed by WHO in its
documents. The WHO states that “concerns have been raised regarding the
influence of for-profit companies — particularly from the food industry — on
the priorities of obesity prevention interventions and the selection of
strategies.”
There have been numerous reports of conflict of
interest related to the presence of big-food giants in decision making bodies
of Pan American Health Organisation (an office related to WHO); Scaling Up
Nutrition (SUN) movement, comprising governments, civil society, the United
Nations, donors, businesses and scientists; and GAIN (Global Alliance for
Improved Nutrition) which statedly supports market-based solutions for
malnutrition and partners with UNICEF on numerous projects. Many of these
relationships have been subsequently sanitised as a result of public protest.
On its part, the Indian government has stayed
fairly clear from such associations and is not currently a part of the SUN
Alliance. In fact, it made a statement at the recent World Health Assembly on
the agenda item related to engaging with non-state actors, cautioning about
indirect funding from the processed food industry.
The mention of ready-to-eat foods, it is feared,
leaves the door open for food industries to step up their attempts to capture
the large potential market of the public food schemes (mid-day meals and food
delivered through the anganwadis).
Public pressure had resulted in the removal of
stringent standards for micronutrient content of the food to be served to
children from Schedule II of the Act. This was on the grounds that while
quality standards are required and desirable, village women or self-help groups
cooking/preparing these meals would not be able to demonstrate these standards
since labelling and testing would not be available to them. A case was also
made that additional micronutrient requirements are being met through national
programmes run by the Ministry of Health, such as the Vitamin A and Iron
supplementation programmes, and we need not meddle with the entire process of
food production and distribution to meet these requirements. However, these
stringent standards have been brought back through the draft rules that have
been put up recently by the Ministry for Women and Child Development.
The problem of junk and processed, packaged food
in India is reaching dramatic proportions with every tiny village shop laden
with packets of potato chips and namkeen and carbonated drinks. Junk food is
far cheaper and more immediately filling than the high quality protein and
micronutrient sources. Any practitioner with field experience would know that
biscuits are used as the commonest complementary food in slums and suburban
areas since they are convenient for working women to hand out to children
through the day.
It behoves
the government to recognise conflicts of interest, eschew these ‘partnerships’ and
focus on stringent regulation and accountability instead of validating junk
food companies by accepting their money and proudly proclaiming them as allies.
Similarly, a visible public-policy support is required for the public food
programmes that clearly favour the use of fresh, culturally appropriate food
with sufficiency and diversity, using local resources.
If we allow the dangerous global trends towards
unhealthy, processed and packaged foods to overwhelm
the food culture in India, the direct and indirect public cost is likely to be enormous. Let us choose to
save our children while we still have the chance
Q.1. The author has expressed negative
consequences of which of the following, in the passage?
(1) Interaction
of parents with the children
(2) Changing habits of children
(3) Processed
and packaged food
(4) The rising inflation level in India
(5) Diverse food choices in India
Q.2. Why is India said to have been carrying the
‘double burden’?
(1) The
food in India is expensive yet more and more children are becoming obese
(2) It has
to deal with the problems of malnutrition and obesity at the same time.
(3) Indian
food has less demand as compared to processed food provided by international
food giants.
(4) Only 1
and 3
(5) Not
mentioned in the passage
Q.3. What is meant by ‘indirect public cost’ as
mentioned in the passage?
(1) The
overhead expenses borne by the individuals to buy food
(2) The
government aid provided to ensure availability of food
(3) The
price paid for food in terms of taxes
(4) The
health related problems caused by consuming junk food.
(5) All of
the above
Q.4. Why do people prefer junk food to the food
made locally?
(1) It is
not expensive and satiates hunger immediately.
(2) Junk
food is delivered at home whereas this facility is not available with most of
locally-made food.
(3) Junk
food has the aroma that attracts most of the people.
(4) Locally
made food is considered unhygienic.
(5) Not
mentioned in the passage
Q.5. Which of the following is/are TRUE in the
context of the passage?
A. Ready-to-eat
food industrycould capture the large potential market of the public food
schemes.
B. The
Indian government has willingly become a part of the SUN Alliance
C. Child
rights activists, nutritionists and public health experts have been raising
their voice against fast food and other food items containing unhealthy
ingredients.
D. Carbonated
drinks are said to have high nutritional value.
(1) Only B (2) Only A and C (3) Only B and D (4)
All except A (5) All except D
Q.126. Which of the following is/are public food
schemes?
A. Meals
delivered at restaurants
B. Food
delivered through anganwadis
C. Mid day
meals
D. Meals
provided by canteens of government offices
(1) Only C (2) Only A and B (3) Only A and C (4)
Only B and C (5) All of the above
Q.7-8.Choose the word most SIMILAR in meaning
to the word printed in bold, as used in the passage.
Q.7.
Behoves
(1) Bothers (2)
Castigates (3) Provokes (4) Promises (5)
Obligates
Q.8.
Overwhelm
(1) Stabilize (2)
Discourage (3) Demonstrate (4) Promote (5)
Boggle
Q.9-10.
Choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE
in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Q.9.
Sedentary
(1) Lavish (2)
Official (3) Social (4) Active (5)
Inspirational
Q.10.
Availability
(1) Capability (2)
Quality (3) Scarcity (4)
Worth (5) Transparency
Answer
Q.1. (3)
Q.2. (2)
Q.3. (4)
Q.4. (1)
Q.5. (2)
Q.6. (4)
Q.7. (5)
Q.8. (4)
Q.9. (4)
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment
MAHENDRA GURU