Vendors selling substandard food items and spurious drinks outside schools and colleges in and around Peshawar city are a common sight.

Hundreds of such pushcart owners could be seen from morning to afternoon along the main roads, on the streets and in posh localities without let or hindrance.

Among such places is the busy Warsak Road, where more than 30 schools, colleges and seminaries are located.

Vendors sell unhealthy food and spurious beverages to small schoolchildren not only threatening the health of the latter but also hindering smooth flow of traffic.

According to experts, such items are prepared at unauthorised factories and that their sales surge in the summer season.

Dr Feroz Shah, who runs a private clinic in Peshawar, said it was common that pushcarts sell unhygienic food and drinks outside educational institutions.

He said children needed healthy food, which contained ingredients essential for their physical growth and protection against diseases.

“Teenagers regularly consuming unhealthy food remain prone to diseases. Such food satisfy the children’s appetite but don’t help them grow strong. As a result, they become physically weak, their colour turns pale and they get mentally frail,” he said.