From March of this year, 90 percent of cup noodles, 65 percent of soda and 22 percent of snacks sold on the market will be banned from stalls and cafeterias at elementary, middle and high schools nationwide. The Korea Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it will this month announce an enforcement decree of a special law on safe eating habits for children.

Snack items to vanish from school cafeterias will include those packing 250 kcal or more per serving, and those high in saturated fat (4 g or higher/serving) and carbohydrates (17 g or higher/serving) and low in protein (2 g or less/serving). As for meal alternatives, items packing 500 kcal or more, over 4 g of saturated fat and 1,000 mg of sodium per serving will be banned.

Through the changes, the KFDA hopes to quell the rising number of obese children, which nearly doubled since 1997, resulting from bad and unbalanced eating habits. According to a recent survey, 8.3 and 9.5 percent of boys and girls aged between five and nine, and 17.9 and 11.4 percent of boys and girls aged 10 to 14 were obese.