JOHANNESBURG - We owe it to our children to advocate for their awareness around nutrition and obesity, and their fruit consumption seems a good place to start.
Thankfully, if you held up an orange or apple in front of a South African child, there’s no question that their identification of the fruit would be accurate.
When Britain recently shone the spotlight on kids’ knowledge about the origins of their local, as well as imported fruit, it was found to be sketchy.
According to Juice brand Honest Kids’ poll of 1000 UK children aged 6-12 years, 20percent didn’t know apples grew on trees, 60percent didn’t know the origin of strawberries, 81percent didn’t know where raspberries came from and 40percent didn’t know what an orchard was.
According to the 2016 Healthy Active Kids South Africa Report Card, nearly 23percent of children aged 2-5 are either overweight or obese, and 20percent are stunted, with lack of nutrient diversity in their diets a main culprit. Their fruit and vegetable consumption lags.