The promise of strawberries for desert increased the uptake of school dinners in Angus by nearly 40% on one day in mid June.
Scientific Co-ordinator of the Berry Scotland Programme Julie Beattie, based in the Centre for Public Health Nutritional Research at the University of Dundee piloted a project promoting fresh locally grown berries as part of the school meal in all 59 schools in Angus on Thursday 12 June.
The children were told that strawberries would be served as part of their school meal some days in advance to give them time to decide on their lunch plans. Angus Council found that the uptake of school meals increased 37% on the previous Thursday's figures and 47% on the same day last year. The berries were served as desert to the pupils attending school dinners. The project was run in conjunction with Angus Council who provided the funding for the berries.
Professor Annie Anderson Professor of Food Choice and Director of Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research within The Institute for Cardiovascular Research said: "This is a useful experience to note for those agencies who wish to promote school meals."
Eating more berries brings considerable health benefits as they contain high amounts of many bioactive compounds including flavonoids, ellagitannins and vitamin C. These compounds act as antioxidants and they could also have other properties which protect against heart disease and cancer. Finding out how these compounds work is an active area for research in Dundee, Scotland and around the world.
Julie said: "We are extremely encouraged by these results. This is just the beginning of the berry season so hopefully school pupils will go home and ask their parents for berries this summer so they reap the full nutritional benefits of our special locally grown produce."
Funding for promotional materials was secured from Awards for All, Lottery grants for local groups. The post of Scientific Co-ordinator of the Berry Scotland Programme is funded by the Scottish Executive.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk