children fruit veg

7:00am Saturday 22nd November 2008

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Today Manchester joins cities such as Wolverhampton who have recognised that they need to do something about changing the eating habits of children before obesity spirals out of control. The reward system being started in Manchester is a similar system to the Food Dudes programme.

Furthermore, some of today’s papers have highlighted a survey that shows that almost half of all children do not get a daily helping of fruit and vegetables (BMC Public Health).

Food Dudes harnesses the power of the three Rs – role models, repeated tastings, and rewards - to enable children to enjoy eating more healthily using cartoon characters. Large-scale studies in schools in England and Wales and Ireland, where it is being introduced to primary schools, show that it has major and long- lasting effects in increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetable in children.

Dr Adrian Phillips, Director of Public Health for Wolverhampton, said: “We are delighted to support this programme because it means that over the three years a total of 20,000 primary school children in Wolverhampton will have a real chance to become even healthier and eat a better and more enjoyable diet. Schools in the city have expressed a keen interest in this programme as it links to all our other work around healthy eating and physical activity. They are looking forward to reaping the rewards of the Food Dudes programme.”

Prof John Price, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Kings College Hospital London and Vice-Chairman of the Awards Council of The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, said, “The Worshipful Company of Fruiterers are delighted to pledged financial support of £75,000 over three years for the Food Dudes programme. Obesity and related illnesses are at unprecedented levels and by supporting the Food Dudes programme we will encourage children to choose fruit and vegetables over less healthy foods. If we can tackle obesity in children this will have an effect on the health of future generations. Studies have shown that children following the Food Dudes programme increased their fruit and vegetable consumption from 100 to 200% on average and in those children who initially eat the least of these foods, consumption has been documented to increase by up to 1000%.”

The School Food Trust has been instrumental in assisting local authorities and schools to become involved in the programme. Judy Hargadon, Chief Executive, School Foods Trust, says, “I have been very impressed with what I have seen of Food Dudes. School lunch regulations require a portion of fruit and one of vegetables at every meal so we are keen to support schemes which encourage children to eat more. Food Dudes can run successfully in conjunction with the government’s current activities to improve children’s diets.”

Professor Fergus Lowe, Co-director of the Food Dudes Programme at Bangor University, says, “This is a major step forward for the nation’s health because eating habits are mostly formed in childhood. By getting children to enjoy eating fruit and vegetables early in their lives, the Food Dudes programme can help them to eat healthily throughout their lives. The programme is easy to run in schools and all primary school children should have the opportunity to be involved.”

In a recent European Commission announcement of €90million funding of a school fruit and vegetable scheme across Europe, Food Dudes is recommended as a model for other countries to adopt.