South Korea launches ‘healthy food corners’ in convenience stores | Catch My Job

The initiative was carried out as a joint project between the convenience store industry and South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), which saw the establishment of ‘healthy food corners’ in 104 convenience stores near schools.

Convenience stores are a popular destination for children and young people in South Korea due to proximity, accessibility and the choices available from these – especially stores located close to schools.

The healthy food corners were set up with pre-specified products lower in sodium, lower in sugar, lower in fat and so on, which were individually labeled and marketed as better choices.

“The aim of these healthy food corners in convenience stores is to make it easier for children to identify and choose healthy and nutritious foods,”MFDS Minister Oh Yu-Kyoung said through a formal statement.

“Convenience stores are very important here as data from local surveys has shown that more and more younger consumers, especially teenagers, are replacing meals with food bought in convenience stores at least once a week – as of 2019, this number is 69.1. %%, according to the 15^edAdolescent Health Behavior Survey.in

“So hopefully the healthy food corner will also help children to form correct and healthy eating habits [which is increasingly important] as the childhood obesity rate in South Korea has been found to be on the rise over the past few years.”in

According to government data, child obesity rates in the country for children aged six to 18 have risen continuously since 2013, from 10% in 2013 to 12.3% in 2018 and most recently this hit 15.9% in 2020.