Keeping Healthy - Fruit

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) is a government programme that entitles every child aged 4-6 in fully state-funded schools to a piece of fruit or vegetable each school day, this equates to approximately 2.3m children in approximately 16,600 schools across England. The scheme was introduced after the NHS Plan, launched in 2000, included a commitment to implement a national fruit and vegetable scheme by 2004. The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is funded by central Government.

Eating 5 a day
The School Fruit & Vegetable Scheme is part of the national 5 A DAY programme. Fruit and vegetables are key to a healthier lifestyle for all of us and experts recommend that everyone eats at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables in a day. Eating fruit and vegetables every day helps children and teenagers grow and develop, boosts their vitality and can reduce the risk of many chronic diseases - such as heart disease, high blood pressure, some forms of cancer and being overweight or obese.

The children are provided with a range of fruit including,  bananas, apples, pears, raisins and soft fruits such as tangerines.  

Please see below for some more interesting information about the fruit provided by this scheme.

RAISINS

Raisins are a popular choice for the children.  

Raisins are nutritious as part of a healthy diet but as dried fruit can stick to teeth and can cause tooth decay it is better to consume dried fruit as part of a meal and not as a between meal snack. Further key advice on keeping teeth healthy can be found at the following NHS websites:
1. Children's teeth: https://www.nhs.uk/live well/healthy body/taking care of childrens teeth/
2. How to look after your children’s teeth. Sweets, fizzy drinks and bottles:  https://www.nhs.uk/live well/healthy body/kids teeth sweets fizzy drinksfaqs

Bananas

Another popular choice for the children is bananas.

Radish

A new addition to the collection is the radish.....