Children in school fruit scheme eating more fruit at home

Children who regularly eat fruit at school also eat more fruit
outside school hours, according to a new survey.

More than one in four children and their families ate more fruit
at home after their school joined the National School Fruit Scheme,
according to the government-funded study.

Health minister John Reid announced last week that the
government is to spend £77 million rolling out the scheme
across England. This will entail distributing around 440 million
pieces of fruit to over 2 million children in 18,000 schools.

Using a sample of 1,000 parents and children, the NOP survey
found that nearly half of parents questioned said the scheme had
made them more aware of the importance of fruit for a healthy
diet.

A million children aged between four and six in England are now
receiving free fruit every day under the scheme, which so far has
been operating in Greater London, East Midlands, West Midlands and
North West England, funded with £48 million from the New
Opportunities Fund .