A good take-up of the school fruit scheme was announced today with 24 of the 27 Member States have opted to participate in the first year of the new EU School Fruit Scheme. The SFS will make available €90 million of EU funds to provide fruit and vegetables to school children and this money will be matched by national and private funds.
The SFS aims to encourage good eating habits in young people, which studies show tend to be carried on into later life. Besides providing fruit and vegetables, the scheme requires participating Member States to set up strategies including educational and awareness-raising initiatives and the sharing of best practice.
An estimated 22 million children in the EU are overweight. More than 5 million of these are obese and this figure is expected to rise by 400,000 every year. Improved nutrition can play an important part in combating this problem. The scheme will begin at the start of the 2009/2010 school year.
All Member States except Latvia, Finland and Sweden will participate in year one of the programme. These countries may join the programme in the future if they wish. The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum daily net intake of 400 grams of fruit and vegetables per person.
The majority of Europeans fail to meet this target and the downward trend is particularly evident among the young. “I’m delighted that so many Member States have decided to make use of this excellent scheme,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. “I believe it can make a major contribution to encouraging our young people to eat more of these healthy and tasty products.”