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This election year, elementary school students from 30 states logged-on to the Internet to elect their favorite fruits and vegetables.
This on-line vote was part of a "5 A Day Virtual Classroom," sponsored by Dole Food Company and conducted on the "5 A Day Home Page" (www.dole5aday.com). The event connected students from New York to Hawaii to discuss why it's important to eat "5 A Day," share opinions about which fruits and vegetables they prefer, and what they are going to tell their friends to motivate them to eat more vegetables. Responses such as: "it makes your body so strong that you could become a very, very, very, famous athlete;" "they help my teeth and bones stay healthy;" "vegetables and fruit are rich in vitamin A and C;" and "they don't clog your arteries" demonstrate that youngsters are aware of the importance of eating "5 A Day" and can serve as role models for their peers.
Children were also able to test their nutrition I.Q. during the three-day event. Ninety-eight percent were able to say why eating "5 A Day" is important for their good health. Seventy-one percent of all students knew they should be eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
Children nationwide are also using the Internet to communicate with more than 40 fruit and vegetable characters such as Barney Broccoli and Bobby Banana. Hundreds of youngsters e-mail the characters at dole.admin@bnt.com each month to ask them questions, tell them which fruits and vegetables are their favorites and provide tips for how to eat them. In return, children receive motivating responses from the characters reinforcing the "5 A Day" message. Many teachers have responded that this is their student's first Internet activity.
Results of a recent study of 3,000 young people ages two to 18, conducted by the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, underscore the importance of getting children excited about fruits and vegetables in order to motivate them to change their eating habits. The study found only one in five children eat the recommended five servings of vegetables and fruit a day; and a quarter of veggies eaten by youngsters are french fries.
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