A €4 million European initiative to improve the diets of children was launched on Thursday.
The Fruitness: enjoy it! campaign, which is funded by the European Commission, Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO), Agea (Agricultural Payment Agency) and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, will run in the UK, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Poland.
The three-year project will be fronted by cartoon superhero Mr Fruitness, who will appear in a video-game handed out free with fruit purchases in which his superpowers are boosted by eating peaches, kiwi, nectarines and pears.
A version of the game featuring Miss Fruitness could be available within a year.
Alessandra Ravaioli said: “The real issue we face is how to get children to eat more fruit and veg and the Fruitness project will help.
“We are hoping to re-launch Mr Fruitness in Sainsbury’s and Asda this year after a successful campaign in the summer, and we are also hoping to be contacted by schools.”
The move is in line with the Green Paper published by the European Commission in December 2005, which revealed that one in four children in Europe is overweight or obese.
A total of 30 per cent of children aged between seven and 11 in Spain, Portugal and Italy are obese, according to the Paper. But the highest levels of childhood obesity are in the UK and Poland.
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