• Piyush Gupta, Dheeraj Shah, Praveen Kumar, Nidhi Bedi, Hema Gupta Mittal, Kirtisudha Mishra, Sumaira Khalil, K E Elizabeth, Rupal Dalal, Rekha Harish, Upendra Kinjawadekar, Kristin Indumathi, Sheetal S Gandhi, J P Dadhich, Niranjan Mohanty, Ajay Gaur, A K Rawat, Srikanta Basu, Raghavendra Singh, R Remesh Kumar, Bakul Jayant Parekh, Santosh T Soans, Digant Shastri, SachdevH P SHPSDepartment of Pediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Sciences and Research, New Delhi., and Pediatric And Adolescent Nutrition Society (Nutrition Chapter) Of Indian Academy Of Pediatrics.
• Department of Pediatrics, UCMS and GTB Hospital, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi. Correspondence to: Dr Piyush Gupta, Chairperson, Pediatric and Adolescent Nutrition Society (Nutrition Chapter), Indian Academy of Pediatrics; and Professor and Head, Department of Pediatrics, University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi 110 095, India. prof.piyush.gupta@gmail.com.
• Indian Pediatr. 2019 Oct 15; 56 (10): 849-863.

JustificationIn view of easy availability and increasing trend of consumption of fast foods and sugar sweetened beverages (fruit juices and drinks, carbonated drinks, energy drinks) in Indian children, and their association with increasing obesity and related non-communicable diseases, there is a need to develop guidelines related to consumption of foods and drinks that have the potential to increase this problem in children and adolescents.ObjectivesTo review the evidence and formulate consensus statements related to terminology, magnitude of problem and possible ill effects of junk foods, fast foods, sugar-sweetened beverages and carbonated drinks; and to formulate recommendations for limiting consumption of these foods and beverages in Indian children and adolescents.ProcessA National Consultative group constituted by the Nutrition Chapter of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), consisting of various stakeholders in private and public sector, reviewed the literature and existing guidelines and policy regulations. Detailed review of literature was circulated to the members, and the Group met on 11th March 2019 at New Delhi for a day-long deliberation on framing the guidelines. The consensus statements and recommendations formulated by the Group were circulated to the participants and a consensus document was finalized.ConclusionsThe Group suggests a new acronym 'JUNCS' foods, to cover a wide variety of concepts related to unhealthy foods (Junk foods, Ultra-processed foods, Nutritionally inappropriate foods, Caffeinated/colored/carbonated foods/beverages, and Sugar-sweetened beverages). The Group concludes that consumption of these foods and beverages is associated with higher free sugar and energy intake; and is associated with higher body mass index (and possibly with adverse cardiometabolic consequences) in children and adolescents. Intake of caffeinated drinks may be associated with cardiac and sleep disturbances. The Group recommends avoiding consumption of the JUNCS by all children and adolescents as far as possible and limit their consumption to not more than one serving per week. The Group recommends intake of regional and seasonal whole fruits over fruit juices in children and adolescents, and advises no fruit juices/drinks to infants and young children (age <2y), whereas for children aged 2-5 y and >5-18 y, their intake should be limited to 125 mL/day and 250mL/day, respectively. The Group recommends that caffeinated energy drinks should not be consumed by children and adolescents. The Group supports recommendations of ban on sale of JUNCS foods in school canteens and in near vicinity, and suggests efforts to ensure availability and affordability of healthy snacks and foods. The Group supports traffic light coding of food available in school canteens and recommends legal ban of screen/print/digital advertisements of all the JUNCS foods for channels/magazines/websites/social media catering to children and adolescents. The Group further suggests communication, marketing and policy/taxation strategies to promote consumption of healthy foods, and limit availability and consumption of the JUNCS foods.

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