Italian fresh produce players have taken stock of their three-year Fruitness - enjoy it! project aimed at encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables, now that it has reached its conclusion.
The three-year campaign, run by Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO) with input from the Italian government and the European Union, has spanned the UK, Germany, Austria, Poland and Sweden.
It centred around cartoon superhero Mr Fruitness, who draws strength from peaches and nectarines, pears and kiwifruit to defeat snack bars, crisps and fizzy drinks with the help of his Fruiteam.
To date, 7,500 promotions have been organised in retailers and more than one million information leaflets have been handed out.
More than two million copies of the Mr Fruitness video game have been handed out.
The Fruitness website features games as well as information, and can be viewed in five languages. An online quiz aimed at children and parents using the site, to enable the campaign to introduce targeted activities, has so far had one million hits in more than 60 countries.
The campaign has recently made a move into online blogs and social networking sites from Facebook to YouTube.
The initiative was intended to tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity, which in 2006 affected more than five million children between the ages of five and 18 worldwide.
CSO president Paulo Bruni said: “The Fruitness project has achieved commendable results… Fruitness has stirred up tremendous interest, grabbing column inches in newspapers and magazines, and gaining recognition throughout Europe - producing an estimated total of 21 million useful contacts.”
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