A Government scheme encouraging school pupils to eat more fruit and vegetables has improved children’s diets and helped them identify healthier food, according to research at Leeds (see Reporter 495).

Nutritionist Dr Joan Ransley (left) and her team surveyed schools in Yorkshire and the north east to evaluate the Department of Health’s nationwide school fruit and vegetable scheme (SFVS). Over two million four to six-year-old children receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable each school day. Researchers wanted to understand the impact of this on children’s diets and their attitude and knowledge of how to eat healthily.

The benefits of offering free fruit included increased fruit intake while children took part in the scheme and improved awareness of which foods were healthier. However children who ate more fruit at school ate less at home and, disappointingly, once the children came out of the scheme their intake of fruit and vegetables dropped.

Dr Joan Ransley said: “Boosting the fruit and vegetable intake among children has a range of direct health benefits but leaving them with a better understanding of what to choose in the future is fantastic. We do need to look more closely at what happens to the eating habits of these children later in life to understand what they do beyond infant school.”

See the press release for further information

Photo: Dr Joan Ransley