A scheme to boost healthy eating

(Photograph) - A scheme to boost healthy eating is giving young children in Glasgow food for thought about nutrition. Under a pilot scheme launched in January, children aged between three and 12 at a dozen of the city's primary and nursery schools were given a free piece of fresh fruit three times a week. The Fruit Plus programme is now going to be rolled out across more than 400 Glasgow schools following a successful evaluation by Market Research Scotland. Glasgow City Council's depute leader, Councillor Jim Coleman, said he hoped that Fruit Plus would not only improve children's health but would also have a knock-on effect on their achievements. He said, 'This scheme is a serious attempt to wean young Glaswegians off some of their less nutritious favourites and onto a more healthy diet. According to the evaluation of the pilot, Fruit Plus has had significant success in that regard. Not only did youngsters at the schools involved not buy so many things from the tuck shop, they also ate more fruit in the school at meal times. That's exactly what we had hoped would happen.'