The project, funded by the EU, the Italian government and the CSO, targets 5 countries: UK, Sweden, Poland, Germany and Austria and aims to:

• inform on the nutritional quality and safety of fruit and its beneficial effects on the health of children and in the prevention of infant obesity.
• promote the consumption of fruit, highlighting the health benefits (because I have to and I?m healthy) in a clear and non-medical way (I eat fruit because I like it, not because I have to and I?m healthy)

This is an all-round promotion and information activity that involves very young consumers and their families, trade operators, schools, institutions and health authorities, in order to staunch the trend of falling purchases of fruit experienced over recent years. This trend obviously has economic and social repercussions on the fruit sector, as well as on the health of citizens. In particular, it is calculated that infant obesity alone has a social cost of between 2% and 8% of total European health expenditure.

The project objectives are thus:

• to promote consumption of community fruit in the European market
• to diffuse fruit consumption in the younger age groups, especially children and adolescents to try to staunch the rife phenomenon of infant obesity and establish healthy eating habits
• to provide complete information especially for families with children on the quality, safety, nutritional characteristics and health benefits of fruit
• to develop the image of fruit as a tasty and healthy friend you can play with (fruit is good for you, but above all tasty and fun).