Songpa-gu Leads Efforts to Improve Nutritional Imbalance in Children at Risk of Food Insecurity

Convenience Stores Account for Half of Child Meal Card Usage... Concerns Over Nutritional Imbalance

Songpa-gu Independently Expands Affiliates to Side Dish Shops and Grocery Stores

Voluntary Participation of Store Owners is Crucial... Focus on Affiliate Recommendations and Promotion

Seok-Suk Seo, Mayor of Songpa District

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) is expanding the affiliates of the Child Meal Card to side dish shops, grocery stores, and other outlets so that children at risk of missing meals can have more balanced nutrition.

The Child Meal Card (hereafter Meal Card) is a card that supports meal expenses for children from economically vulnerable families to ensure they do not skip meals outside of school meals. Children can purchase meals or food at affiliated stores and pay with the card.

As of January, there are 5,140 Child Meal Card affiliates in Songpa-gu. Various types of businesses participate, including Korean, Western, Chinese restaurants, general eateries, bakeries, and fast food outlets.

However, a survey by Songpa-gu revealed that children using the Meal Card primarily use it at convenience stores rather than restaurants, raising concerns about nutritional imbalance. Over the past six months, convenience stores accounted for 49% of Meal Card usage by industry type, nearly half.

Accordingly, starting this year, the district is independently promoting the expansion of affiliates to side dish shops and grocery stores. Notably, these types of businesses are not automatically linked with private card companies like existing affiliates, so voluntary participation by store owners is necessary.

To this end, the district is intensifying promotion of the Child Meal Support Project. In cooperation with local community centers, promotional materials will be actively distributed to relevant businesses throughout the area, and regular affiliate recommendations will be made to increase participation. Additionally, existing affiliates will be given ‘Ssakteneun Gage’ (Sprouting Store) stickers as an affiliate mark to enhance promotional effects.

Those wishing to participate can inquire at the community center where their business is located or at the Child and Youth Division of Songpa-gu Office.

For children using the Meal Card, instructions on how to use the ‘Child Meal Card App (Seoul Dream Tree)’ will be sent via text message and notices to quickly provide information on new affiliates and usage locations.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “We ask for the active participation of business owners in related industries so that children in difficult environments can grow up healthy,” and added, “We will continue to prioritize socially vulnerable groups such as low-income children and develop projects to create an inclusive city Songpa without exclusion.”