A campaign to encourage primary school children in Scotland to eat fruit is set to be extended to thousands of nursery children.

The Snack Attack scheme provides free fruit to 15,000 primary school children in Edinburgh. But experts believe that healthy eating habits should be introduced before children start school.

The project has already received £385,000 of Big Lottery funding to supply fruit for children in Edinburgh’s most deprived areas. But now they are evaluating how much it would cost to make sure that all 5000 nursery children in the city are eating fresh fruit every day.

Nuala Good, Snack Attack project co-ordinator, said: “We are hoping to extend it to the younger ones because the younger you can catch them, the better it is for their long-term health.

“We are already funded to go into some nurseries that are in the most deprived and most needy areas but we would like all children to be included.

“I think healthy habits taught to children at a young age last until adulthood and, if they are taught to eat healthy food as young children, they will grow up to be healthy adults.”

At least 5 million pieces of fruit have been handed out to children since the initiative was started in primary schools seven years ago. Almost 50,000 pupils have benefited from the scheme.

A survey has been commissioned to see how effective the project has been, and to strengthen the case for extending Snack Attack to more children.

Most of the teachers questioned felt that the children were eating and enjoying the fruit that they were given at school. The research also shows that almost half of pupils in one school had tried exotic fruits such as mango and kiwi for the first time at school.

Snack Attack offers fruit three days a week to children who receive free school dinners. But all first and second year primary school children have access to fresh fruit every day, with the project operating in all 103 city primary schools. Older primary school children who do not receive free school meals can buy fruit at the subsidised rate of 10p a piece.

Jennifer Johnston, a teacher at Stenhouse Primary School, said: “If you start them young, then hopefully they will go through school and naturally pick up a piece of fruit rather than crisps or chocolate.”

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