...and the award goes to: Fresh Fruit!

The Children's Food Awards The members of The Parents Jury were united in praising the merits of fresh fruit. Cheap, nutritious and tasty - fresh fruit was a clear winner. The parents especially recommended small bananas, apples, kiwi fruit and grapes. The Parents Jury also made special mention of advertising campaigns which made tooth-friendly dairy and water products 'cool'. They thought that attractive packaging, including sports caps on drinking bottles, cartoon characters and entertaining TV advertising could all encourage greater uptake of fruit juices, water and milk. Below are some of the parents' comments:

Small-sized fruit is very useful for lunchboxes - and healthy, too.
mother of one, from Oldbury in the West Midlands

I like the TV advert for bananas - anything that promotes fruit as 'cool' is OK by me!
mother of three, from Balfron in Stirlingshire

Smaller fruit is more manageable for children, e.g. satsumas, tomatoes and small bananas.
mother of two, from Kendal in Cumbria

Carrot sticks are universally popular with kids, good for them, cheap and easy to prepare.
mother of two, from St Albans in Hertfordshire

Baby carrots are really sweet and tasty - great for kids of all ages.
mother of two, from Cockermouth in Cumbria

The parents also commented on milk and water advertising -

My daughter did not drink milk until the White Stuff adverts - now she even asks for it at a friend's house instead of juice. This shows advertising hits home even to a 5 year old. Perhaps we need a veg and fruit one!
mother of one, from Halstead in Essex

The White Stuff campaign was good - but seems to have lapsed, which is a shame as the 'Kool for Cats' advert was very good. We need to make milk trendy again.
mother of one, from Preston in Lancashire

Water adverts such as Evian are helping to make drinking water more 'trendy' - especially if it comes in a 'sports' type bottle.
mother of two, from Bury in Lancashire

Expert opinion

Health experts agree that fresh fruit is an essential part of everybody's diet and recommend that we eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. If you're having trouble persuading your children to eat more fruit and vegetables, try these tips -

Vegetables can be chipped, chopped, diced and grated, and some vegetables, like carrots and parsnips, make great 'healthy' chips. Children respond to colour and texture, so don't over-cook vegetables until they're soggy and bland. Try tempting them with small portions of finely chopped raw vegetables (incredibly healthy and a great crunchy texture). Involve the children in preparing the food. Make colourful, easy-to-eat fruit kebabs by threading different fruit onto wooden skewers. Fresh fruit also make wonderful smoothies - to make a Nutty Smoothie mix a banana, a teaspoon of peanut butter, half a pint of milk and a few ice cubes in a blender - wonderfully tasty and nutritious to! Or swap the peanut butter for some strawberries, and add the ice after blending, for a Red Rocker.

Some schools and government schemes are also helping to promote fruit and vegetables to children. See the High Five Award link below.

Fresh fruit - What's so good about it?

It has long been known that fruit and vegetables contain vitamin C, but fruit and vegetables also contain more than 100 beneficial compounds which may protect against certain cancers, coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases. These include antioxidants such as the vitamins C and E, carotenoids and flavonoids, dietary fibre, folic acid, phytoestrogens and other phytochemicals, potassium, magnesium and many others.

It appears that the protective effect of fruit and vegetables is due to a wide range of compounds working together rather than any single compound on its own. Eating processed foods with added vitamins or taking dietary supplements containing just one of these compounds will not be as effective. There's no substitute for real fruit and vegetables!

(1) http://www.doh.gov.uk/schoolfruitscheme/healthvalue.htm

The Children's Food Awards 2002

The Children's Food Awards 2003

Join The Parents Jury

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