A government healthy eating initiative which gives a free piece of fruit to every five and six-year-old child attending a state school has failed to stop children snacking. Between April and September 2004 the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme was rolled out across England at a cost of some £77m according to the Mail on Sunday. Children were given a free piece of fruit every day - but their consumption only rose by a third of a piece of a fruit a day.

Teachers reported that much of the fruit was thrown away. This was particularly true of fruit that the children hadn't tried before such as satsumas, peaches, cherries or kiwis.

The results of this programme will presumably affect how the goverment go forward in tackling healthy food in schools, as ministers try to discover why this worthy scheme failed to take off.

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