Bringing fruit to life for your children

You're a mother and a mentor; a nurse, friend, psychologist and nutritionist all rolled into one. You know what an important part fruit plays in the healthy growth and development of your child, and you recognise the significance of developing healthy eating habits from a young age. But you also know that your children have a mind of their own, and take more than a little persuading.

Goulburn Valley, Australia's leading packaged fruit brand, is lending a helping hand to parents and schools across Australia, with the launch of the Goulburn Valley Collect-A-Tub program. The program will run in primary schools around the country from July to October, encouraging kids to collect points for their school by purchasing Goulburn Valley Fruit Snack Tubs. These can then be redeemed for school sporting equipment at www.collectatub.com.au. The highest point-scoring school will also win a visit from Australia's iconic child performance troupe, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, including both a performance and a workshop day where kids can learn some of the tricks themselves. In addition, the highest point-scoring school in each State group[1] will be rewarded with a visit from high profile athletes, who will run workshops designed to get the kids active.

Karen Inge, accredited practising dietitian and author of the award winning book 'Let's eat right for families', says: "Fruit contains many of the essential nutrients your child needs to grow and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Along with health protecting anti-oxidants and roughage to regulate the digestive system, fruit is also a valuable source of essential vitamins and minerals like Vitamins C and A, potassium and folic acid. That's why it is also important that children are encouraged to develop the habit of eating fruit for life from a young age. Getting involved with Goulburn Valley's Collect-A-Tub program is a great way to help your children take an interest in choosing fruit for themselves, whilst at the same time encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle."

It is often hard to make your children do anything, so encouraging them to eat more fruit can prove to be a challenge. However, there are a number of ways in which you can encourage your children to incorporate fruit into their daily diet without forcing the issue of health.

Inge highlights the following:

Practice What You Preach

Research shows that the home environment, and eating habits of the whole family, has a direct influence over the amount of fruit children eat. Mothers are always on the go, with recent European research finding that although children are under-consuming fruit, so are their mothers.[2] Acting as a role model for healthy eating behaviour is important, the key is to enjoy fruit based snacks and desserts together like after school smoothies, fruit with jelly and fruit kebabs.


Make It Available

Easy availability is an important factor in determining how much fruit is eaten, and many kids will need a helping hand to get them into the fruit habit. Providing a constant supply of fruit is a good start, in the form of packaged fruit or fresh seasonal options. And while seasonality is important with fresh food selection, pre-packaged fruit such as Goulburn Valley snack tubs are a great way to provide kids with the best of their favourite fruits all year round.


Keep It Easy, Peasy

Make fruit an easy choice for children to make. As well as making it readily available, ensure it is in a ready-to-eat format to make it more manageable. Try putting sliced fruit straight on to their cereal for breakfast, or serving chopped fruit for dessert. Fruit snack packs are ideal for including in lunchboxes, as well as being a readily available at-home snack or dessert.


Synchronise with School

Many schools have made significant changes to what's on offer in the school canteen in recent times. It's important to work with your school, and Parents' Association, to ensure a wide selection of healthy choices are available to your children (a recent survey of Victorian school parents found support for school-based health and nutrition as well as healthy school food policies[3]). School-based programs that kids can get involved with, like Goulburn Valley's Collect-A-Tub campaign, are an ideal way to send out healthy-lifestyle messages to children, with consistency between the school and home. Research has shown that while healthy eating programs at school can have a positive effect on fruit consumption, they need to be reinforced at home, so stay in tune with your child's teacher and curriculum to maximise the benefits.


A healthy snack, an ideal addition to lunchboxes and great for eating on the go, Goulburn Valley Fruit Snack Tubs are a quick and convenient alternative to fresh fruit. Both nutritious and delicious, Goulburn Valley Fruit Snack Tubs provide essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre.

The Goulburn Valley Collect-A-Tub program is being launched exclusively through Coles Group stores nationally from 9th July. For further details, and to start entering points, log onto www.collectatub.com.au.

* Image: Ripponlea Primary School