EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has drawn up a blueprint for a school fruit and vegetable scheme that could see €90m spent annually to provide free fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren across the EU.
The aim is to tackle the growing issue of childhood obesity and to influence children's dietary habits while those habits are still being formed. According to statistics, up to 27 per cent of men and 38 per cent of women in the EU are now obese.
Although many EU countries already have a school fruit and vegetable scheme in place, others, particularly in central and eastern Europe, do not.
The plan, which is due to be published on 8 July, could come into effect for the 2009/10 academic year.
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