07 Sep 2005
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French ban on vending machines in schools comes into force
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7 September 2005
As of 7 September 2005, all 22,650 food-and-drink vending machines have been removed from French schools and have been replaced with water fountains. The problem of obesity among schoolchildren is increasing in France – the number of under-18s who are overweight has doubled in a decade, and one child in eight is now obese. While the MP who originally tabled the measure to ban vending machines admits, ‘This ban is not going to solve the problem of child obesity', it does send 'a very strong signal’. The move is part of a package of public-health measures, passed in October 2004, which includes stricter regulations on labelling ‘junk foods’, particularly products targeted at children. (7 September 2005, The Guardian)