Battle Lines Drawn For Children's Health Care

Illawarra Mercury

Monday August 6, 2007

By JODIE MINUS

SYDNEY Markets has given Bazza Banana, Oscar Orange and Captain Capsicum a makeover as they continue their battle to encourage children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

First enlisted 10 years ago, the cartoon characters are the face of a new fresh produce promotion, as the consumption of fruit and vegetables continues to decline in Illawarra playgrounds.

The dire situation has even led some nutritionists to recommend tinned and dried fruit in the belief that any form of fruit is better than nothing.

Childhood obesity expert Tony Okely from the University of Wollongong said he supported a Collect-A-Tub campaign by a pre-packaged fruit company to promote its products in Illawarra schools. The promotion encourages pupils to trade in their empty fruit tubs for sporting equipment.

On the other side of the coin is the Sydney Markets campaign, which offers children the chance to win iPods and holidays by collecting stickers from fresh fruit and the NSW School Canteen Association's Crunch and Sip program for healthy eating.

The association's Jo Gardner said the Collect-a-Tub promotion was a blatant marketing ploy and would encourage children to eat more processed fruit instead of its fresher, healthier alternative.

"I think we have seen the advent of promotions in schools with the chocolate drives as a fundraiser and this is just another fundraiser that is based on processed fruit," she said.

"The schools need to ask themselves whether this is going to take away from those everyday fruits that children should be eating.

"And if two pieces of fruit are nutritionally equivalent to four tubs, it is hard to argue that the tubs are a healthier alternative."

But Dr Okely said dieticians working with overweight children were happy to promote the tub fruit as a source of nutrition because many parents believe that cutting up fresh fruit was inconvenient.

"I suppose the problem for a lot of kids now is that they are at school and there is so much packaged food," he said. "A lot of the time they will want something that is pre-packaged because it is more appealing.

"Unless parents actually peel the mandarin for them or cut up the apple and make it a little easier for children to eat, then they are more likely to want to eat the pre-packaged fruit."

© 2007 Illawarra Mercury

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