Children at Bombala Public School joined an attempted record-breaking effort of vegetable eating on Thursday.
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The Big Vegie Crunch saw around 20 schools in the Southern NSW Local Health District join others right across NSW to simultaneously eat vegetables.
The event was part of the Healthy Kids Association Vegetable Week, supported by NSW Health, which ran for the whole school week starting May 22.
At Bombala there was a wide variety of vegetables on offer and the event proved very popular, assistant principal Anne Roberts said on Friday.
“The children had the opportunity to try other vegetables they may not have had before,” Ms Roberts said.
“And even if they didn’t like it, at least they tried.”
Interestingly enough, Ms Roberts said one of the more popular vegies on the day was parsnip, or “sweet white carrots” as the children referred to them.
“We have ‘crunch and sip’ every morning where the children bring in healthy fruit or vegetables and a drink for a good start to the day,” Ms Roberts said.
“This just opened their eyes up to other options to consider.”
According to the recent National Nutrition Survey, while 68 per cent of children eat the recommended serves of fruit every day, only 5.4 per cent are eating enough vegetables.
“It’s fun, interactive school-based campaigns like Vegetable Week and The Big Vegie Crunch that we hope will influence the variety and amount of vegetables children choose to eat,” SNSWLHD health promotion coordinator Emma Woolley said.
“Children might not have access to, or choose to, eat around five serves of vegetables every day, the recommended amount for those aged 4-12. However, the school setting, combined with positive peer pressure, can get children to try different varieties.
“This event may encourage our children to choose healthier food options in their day-to-day life.”
- For more information on Vegetable Week and The Big Vegie Crunch, visit http://healthy-kids.com.au/teachers/vegetable-week-the-big-vegie-crunch/