Nursery World - Funding for health projects bears fruit

* Free fruit is soon to be on the menu for more than a million schoolchildren in England with the allocation of 52m to help fight heart disease and cancer. The New Opportunities Fund money will expand pilots of healthy eating projects to reach 10,000 schools and communities by spring 2002. It covers two schemes - 42m to extend the National School Fruit Scheme, which entitles children aged four to six a free piece of fruit each school day, and 10m for the Five-a-Day community initiative to tackle the problem of families on low incomes eating few portions of fruit and vegetables.

The New Opportunities Fund money will expand pilots of healthy eating projects to reach 10,000 schools and communities by spring 2002. It covers two schemes -42m to extend the National School Fruit Scheme, which entitles children aged four to six a free piece of fruit each school day, and 10m for the Five-a-Day community initiative to tackle the problem of families on low incomes eating few portions of fruit and vegetables.

Health secretary Alan Milburn said, 'This money will mean fruit gets to more children sooner. From 2004 all four-to six-year-olds will be entitled to a piece of free fruit each day at school. The NOF money will also target the poorest communities and help reduce health inequalities.'

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