A new survey has found that 59% of parents find it difficult to include the recommended daily five pieces of fruit and vegetables in the family diet. Frankly, I'm surprised it's so low. Feeding the family a healthy diet is a lot harder than I expected it was going to be before I had children
Now BBC's The One Show's reporter Angellica Bell is challenging mums across the country to share tips to help fellow parents include five portions of fruit and vegetables within the family diet.
Angellica says: "Every parent I know is always rushed off their feet and become overwhelmed at the thought of having to cook a family meal after a busy day. I am hoping this challenge will show how easy it can be to include fresh fruit and vegetables into a diet throughout the day whether it is a snack or a meal."
The 'eat your five a day' challenge, hosted by the social networking site www.mumsnet.com, is available to all across the UK. Mums will be invited to enter the challenge by submitting their creative tips on how they encourage their children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables into a diet. The best entry will receive £400 to put towards cooking equipment for their home and their child's school.
And here are some tips to help your family eat healthy:
Nancy Brown, marketing manager at Florida grapefruit offers these quick and easy tips to show how to include fruit and vegetables into the whole family's diet:
· Keep some bite-size sections of fruit in the fridge at eye level and ready for a quick snack
· Squeeze grapefruit juice onto your food to give it an added zing instead of using salt
· Plant fruit and vegetable seeds in your garden with your child and let them take care of the plant while it grows
· Take your family to picking farms at harvest time to pick your own fruit to include in your meals
· Try cutting fruit and vegetables into different shapes and let your children make a picture before eating them
For further information and tips visit www.gofloridagrapefruit.com and to enter the competition visit www.mumsnet.com