We're just following the Food Dudes
More photos:
Thursday January 19 2012
Jayden O'sullivan, Ada O'keefe and Aoife O'sullivan at Castletownroche National School were among hundreds of pupils across North Cork to start the Food Dudes healthy eating programme this week FOURTEEN schools in North Cork began a new healthy easting programme this week.
The objective of the Food Dudes programme is to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home. The programme is currently being introduced to primary schools nationwide, but the schools in North Cork are mainly situated in the Charleville-mallow region.
The Food Dudes programme focuses on three factors: taste exposure, modelling and rewards. Children are given the opportunity, through videos, to watch peer models – a group of slightly older children called the Food Dudes – gain superpowers from eating fruit and vegetables.
"The Food Dude characters and rewards are used to encourage children to taste fruit and vegetables and after a very short time they have developed a liking for them which leads to a lasting increase in consumption," said Michael Maloney of Bord Bia, the director of Food Dudes.
"This early intervention is all the more important given that research has shown that eating practices acquired in childhood persist in later life."
The national roll out of the Food Dudes programme began in April 2007.
To date, over two thirds of the primary schools in the country and some 300,000 pupils have participated in the programme. In an independent evaluation carried out by University College Dublin, over 95% of the parents surveyed said the children enjoyed the programme and almost 94% found their children eating more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home.
