Coldiretti, 18 Million Euros for Free Fruit at School to Fight Obesity

18 million euros for a total of over 7 million kilos of fruit and vegetables already distributed to primary school pupils to combat obesity.

These are some of the figures of the campaign against childhood obesity promoted for the 2011/2012 school year under the EU programme "Fruit in Schools", which this year alone has allowed the distribution of fruit and vegetables to 1,340,000 children in 8,400 primary schools throughout Italy in order to encourage their consumption and to educate the new generations to adopt correct eating habits.

The data on childhood obesity in Italy appear alarming: over 1 million children are overweight and 400,000 are obese, respectively 22.9 percent and 11.1 percent of all children between 8 and 9 years of age. These figures are made known by the monitoring project of the National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion (Cnesps) of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, "Okkio alla Salute".

In the face of what risks becoming a national health issue, Coldiretti has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education, University and Research that provides for the commitment to promote, through pilot experiences, in respect of their own autonomy and within the scope of their respective competences, joint initiatives to make young people aware of correct civic behaviour respectful of the environment and of Italian food traditions. Within the framework of the project "Education for Campagna Amica", which over the course of the school year involves more than one hundred thousand pupils of primary and middle schools, the children will take part in the over three thousand lessons scheduled on the educational farms and in the over five thousand taste workshops and educational gardens that will be organised on the farms and in the classroom.