Seoul City 'Yaedeul-a Gwail Meokja', Expanding Fruit Supply Until Winter Vacation

7,000 Children Receive Fruit Twice Weekly and Nutrition Education Monthly

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 9th that the "Kids, Let's Eat Fruit" project, which supports seasonal fruit and nutrition education for 7,000 children, showed positive effects with an increase in nutrition label awareness (51.5%→70.2%) and fruit intake rate (22.5%→27.6%). Seoul City will expand fruit supply from the previous December to February during the winter vacation to strengthen "Walking with the Vulnerable" for children from vulnerable groups.

Seoul's "Kids, Let's Eat Fruit" is a pioneering public-private partnership project that provides nutrition education once a month and fruit twice a week, centered on local children's centers, to help children from vulnerable groups develop healthy eating habits.

Last year, from May, fruit supply and nutrition education were supported at 240 local children's centers (7,000 children). To prevent COVID-19, if the centers were not operating, children were allowed to take the fruit prepared at the centers home to eat.

According to pre- and post-surveys of participating children, ▲ the percentage of children who ate "vegetables" daily in the past week increased by 7.9% (31.2%→39.1%), and ▲ the percentage of children who ate "fruit" daily in the past week increased by 5.1% (22.5%→27.6%).

Additionally, 66.1% of participating children said they "like fruit more than before," and nutrition label awareness rose from 51.5% to 70.2%, indicating a significant effect of the nutrition education.

Parental and children's center staff satisfaction was also high. 94% of parents and 98% of children's institution staff responded that the "Kids, Let's Eat Fruit" project is continuously needed. In particular, 74.1% of parents felt changes such as improved nutritional knowledge in their children after participating in the project, reflecting the project's tangible outcomes.

Seoul City will reflect the survey results in policy and extend the fruit supply period from December to February to support children who spend more time at local children's centers during the winter vacation.

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul City Citizen Health Bureau, said, "Through the public-private cooperative 'Kids, Let's Eat Fruit' project, our children are developing eating habits of snacking on seasonal fruit, which is expected to have a lifelong positive impact on their health." She added, "Seoul City will strengthen 'Walking with the Vulnerable' in children's nutrition management to support all children to grow up healthily."