Earlier this year the EU raised the budget for the school fruit programme from 90 million Euro to 150 million Euro. The goal of the programme is clear: increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. But is it effective? And who receives the most support?
In 2012/2013 8.6 million children in participating member countries received fruits and vegetables. This was six percent more than in the previous school year. In total 25 countries are participating in the programme. Sweden, Finland and the United Kingdom are not. The Union is financing part of the costs, 79% in total. The rest is paid by the national governments. Motivation for the school fruit includes the estimation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), that one in three children between the ages of 6 and 9 in Europe were overweight in 2010. In 2008 the WHO estimated this figure was one in four.
Division of EU money
Most of the 150 million Euro will go to Italy, Germany and Poland. These countries receive between 20.5 and 29.2 million Euro. France and Spain receive 15 and 10.7 million Euro respectively. They are followed by the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Hungary with 5.4 million Euro. The other countries received less. Cyprus is last at 290,000 Euro subsidy.
In the Netherlands around 1,100 schools participated in the school fruit programme last school year (2013/14), which means 200,000 children. For 20 weeks, three times per week, students received fruit. The schools have to continue the programme at least twice a week for the remaining weeks. For the current school year the period has been extended from 20 weeks to 25 weeks.
School fruit effective
An evaluation of the project shows that schools, students and parents are positive about the programme. The number of children that take sweets or biscuits into school is also declining, from 65 percent to 55 percent according to the research, and the number of children bringing in fruits or vegetables is increasing. The percentage of children regularly bringing in vegetables increased from 11 to 14 percent. Fruit showed an increase of 40 percent to 45 percent.
The school fruit programme has existed in Norway in the 90's. In 2001 a group of scientists researched the effectiveness of the campaign. The same research group was asked about fruit and vegetable consumption a number of times after the research. Using these repetitions the researchers could map out the long term effects.
The research showed that three years after partaking in the school fruit programme the consumption of fruit and vegetables was still higher than that of children who did not partake in the programme. Specifically, the researchers saw that participants consumed 30 to 35 grams more fruits and vegetables per day. The Norwegian government calculated that the programme, during ten years of education, would be efficient if the consumption rose by 2.5 grams per day. In short, the school fruit programme changed the consumption of participants.
Free important condition
In a 2007 British research the researchers concluded that the school fruit programme had a positive effect on the short term, but they saw no effect on the long term. The difference in results is explained by a different set up in research, among other things.
The effectiveness of the programme is also a point of research within the EU. In a report from 2012 the European Commission writes that to change the fruit consumption, four important conditions have to be met. First of all the children have to have a wide choice of five to ten products. Besides this fruit has to be offered regularly and the programme has to last a number of years. And the final condition: the fruit has to be free.