Proexport distributes 500,000 servings of fruit to 90,000 primary school students from 420 centers in the Region
Martín’s comfort zone in terms of fruit is between bananas, apples and watermelons. Yesterday at school he broadened his horizons and tried the apricot for the first time during the fruit distribution that he is carrying out these days in the Proexport centers, which until Friday will distribute 500,000 portions of fruit and vegetables among almost 90,000 students between the ages of 6 and 12 who participate in the School Program for the Consumption of Fruits, Vegetables and Milk in Schools.
Martin’s case is not extraordinary. Three out of ten Murcian children had never tried an apricot, a plum or a cherry tomato before, according to the follow-up report carried out by Proexport after three years with the program underway. The nectarine is even more unknown to children and 40% did not know of its existence until they were given it to try at school.
how much they liked
fruits and vegetables
Relationship between vegetable consumption by children and the sport that their parents do
Li hYojos ceithermin heitherryoualiza frandsca…
Parents play sports
Relationship between parent’s fruit consumption and child’s frequency of consumption
Frequency of consumption
parent’s fruit
Frequency of fruit consumption
Source: Survey of Schoolchildren
How much did they like fruit and vegetables?
Relationship between vegetable consumption by
of children and the sport that their parents do
Li hYojos ceithermin heitherryoualiza frandsca…
Parents play sports
Relationship between fruit consumption
parent and child’s frequency of consumption
Parent’s frequency of fruit consumption
Frequency of fruit consumption
Source: Survey of Schoolchildren
The ‘top’ of fruits for Murcian schoolchildren is headed by watermelon, the favorite for almost 80%; followed by strawberries, bananas and apples. Others arouse less passion, such as apricot, pineapple and pear.
That many children flee from the green is not new, but the study reveals that what they see at home makes a dent. The frequency of fruit consumption by parents is directly related to the intake of their children, although it is not decisive. In homes where parents eat it frequently, more than 90% of children eat fruit daily, many times or always, a percentage that drops to 70% when parents do not.
Parents’ sports habits also have an impact on their children’s vegetable intake. In houses where parents play sports frequently, children eat more. And on the contrary: in households where adults do not practice sports, 15.4% of minors never eat vegetables and only 50% do so several times a week and every day. However, if parents do physical exercise frequently, the percentage of children who do not eat vegetables is almost testimonial and that of those who do so every day and several times a week shoots up to 70%. The study, which highlights that the students of the Altiplano (Yecla and Jumilla) are the ones who eat the most fruit for lunch at recess, also includes the reasons that lead minors to consume it: the majority (almost 70%) eat it because it’s healthy; and 60% say that it is also “very rich”.
The fruit distribution program, which aims to increase consumption among minors and bring them closer to varieties that they do not know, is being carried out this year in 420 Murcian schools and will reach 90,000 schoolchildren. The fruits selected by the Ministry of Agriculture for this end of the school year have been the cherry tomato, the apricot, the nectarine, the Canarian banana, the melon and the watermelon.
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