Encouraging children to eat fruit at school

In the European Union around 22 million children are overweight and more than 5 million are obese, mainly owing to excessive consumption of fatty, sweet or salty food.  When the fruit and vegetable sector was reformed last year, the European Parliament and the Member States called for a programme to be set up for distributing fruit in schools to encourage children to eat more healthily.

 

 

The European Commission has proposed a budget of 90 million euros for this programme for the school year 2009/2010. This budget is not enough, argue MEPs: it is equivalent to giving every child aged 6 to 10 one piece of fruit a week for 30 weeks.

 

A report by Niels Busk (ALDE, DK), as adopted unanimously on Tuesday, calls for the Community contribution to be increased to 500 million euros for 2009/2010.

 

MEPs also believe the programme should not be restricted to children at school in the 6-10 age-group but should also be available to pre-school children.

 

In its report on the European Union’s draft general budget for 2008, the European Parliament underlined its firm support for appropriate funding for the distribution of fruit and vegetables in schools.  The World Health Organisation recommends consumption of at least 400g of fruit and vegetables per day for children under the age of 11.

 

 

In their amendments, MEPs call, among other points, for the practical arrangements for the programme to be clarified.

 

According to the Agriculture Committee, the programme should cover only fruit and vegetables produced within the EU and only fresh produce should be distributed, since processed products have less nutritional value.

 

The fruit and vegetables should meet the highest quality standards and should preferably be seasonal varieties, grown locally; priority should be given to sustainable production.  They should be selected by Member States and the Commission on the bases of their health benefits.

 

MEPs also want the distribution of fruit to be accompanied by health and dietary advice in an appropriate style for children, as well as information on organic produce.

 

Finally, they ask that the programme be complementary to other initiatives that may be underway and to allow unused funds to be transferred between Member States.

 

On 25 September, Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on the fight against obesity calling notably for fruit and vegetables to be stocked in vending machines in schools and for the schools curriculums to include information on balanced diets.