The Schools Fruit and Vegetable Scheme has been strongly endorsed in a new study, which states that the programme is ‘an effective way’ of improving childrens’ diets.
The number of children who ate fruit every day as a result of being on the scheme was found to have risen from around 46 percent to approximately 65 percent.
The Department of Health-funded study, carried out by the University of Nottingham and published this month, looked at more than 200 primary schools during a period between 2003 and 2005, surveying over 5,000 children before, during and after they took part in the scheme.
Parents were asked two questions, focusing on how many days in a typical week the child ate fruit - either at school or at home - and how many pieces of fruit were consumed on average at home.
The project began by looking at fruit consumption in the scheme, though vegetable items were added and the scheme renamed to cover both fruit and veg in autumn 2004.
Researchers studying consumption trends noted a marked increase in the amount of produce, with childrens’ weekly intake of apples, pears, bananas and satsumas almost doubling.
On average weekly intake rose from an average of 7.5 pieces of fruit a week to 14 during the course of the scheme.
The Department of Health has estimated the scheme to have a daily cost of around 10p per child, equating to an annual cost of £20.
However the report did also warn that the approach may not influence longer-term consumption beyond the period of provision of free fruit, and called on such schemes to be extended throughout primary schools to gain the maximum benefit to young children and maintain a consistent dietary change.
Dr Andrew Fogarty, of the university’s Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, said: “It’s likely that patterns of dietary intake of fruits and other healthy foods are established in early life.
“So it’s very important to develop interventions that increase regular fruit intake in young children, especially those from less affluent sectors of society, as diet may be one lifestyle factor contributing towards socio-economic differentials in health.”
Katy Negus, sales and marketing manager at Watton Produce, which supplies vegetables to the schools scheme, told Commercial Grower that the company has received a flood of calls from parents saying that their children have been delighted with new product innovations such as mini cucumbers, and that she is convinced the scheme is having a positive effect on introducing children to produce.
Martin Evans managing director of Freshgro, said: “We supply carrots to the scheme. We’ve seen a huge amount of positive feedback come out of it. We did a school visit recently and kids found it extremely interesting. There’s a lot being gained from the scheme and it helps get the message across that produce doesn’t just come out of a packet.”
Fresh Produce Consortium chief executive Nigel Jenney added that the survey ‘reinforces the positive effect that the scheme is having’ on consumption of fruit and vegetables.
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