EU commission throws its weight behind 'healthy eating' drive

EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has argued that sugar and fatty foodstuffs should be banned from school vending machines.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday, Fischer Boel said that such products are no longer permitted in some school vending machines.

But the EU agriculture commissioner added, “Personally, I think these products should be kicked out of vending machines altogether.

“There's no justification for having them there.”

The Danish official was speaking at the launch of a two-day conference, organised by the commission, on ways in which the consumption of fruit and other healthy food can be encouraged among school-children.

An EU-wide ‘school fruit scheme’ is one of the measures currently being taken to help tackle the problem of child obesity.

The commissioner said, “The core element of this scheme is the distribution of fruit and vegetables in schools. This is really the axis around which the scheme will turn.

"We don't just want to tell children that fruit and vegetables are good for them; we want to give them a regular experience that could become a lifelong habit.”

She added that the fact that 22 million children in the EU are "overweight" was cause for real concern.

“We don't even need to hear this figure to know the reality. In Europe as in the US, we can see the problem for ourselves, on our streets," she said. 

"There are too many kids aged 14, 15, 16 walking around who already fit into an "XXL" clothing size. Obviously, we have  a problem.

“As we know, one cause is inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables."

She added, "The minimum daily intake recommended by the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation is 400 grammes. That's the recommended minimum. And only 8 EU member states hit that target.”

“Clearly, there's work to be done in this area.”

"The scheme will not turn every child into an Olympic athlete but it can help ensure that those children become healthier and happier adults - who can chase their own children around the park without sending their blood pressure up and going red in the face."

She said the scheme was one example of how the EU can help bring positive benefits to the health of its citizens.

“The scheme is a policy which will bring the EU closer to "normal people".

"We often hear that some European policies seem rather "abstract" to the public. What happens in Brussels and Strasbourg is not always well understood.”

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