Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Children across Europe - The Pro Children Project

This special issue of Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism presents a series of papers on the first stages of the Pro Children Project. The Pro Children Project was funded by the European Commission to study fruit and vegetable intakes in 11- to 13-year-old children in nine European countries, and to develop and evaluate school-based interventions to promote fruit and vegetable intakes. A multidisciplinary and international team of researchers embarked upon this ambitious evidence-based and theory-driven project. The initial stages reported in this issue include the elaboration of questionnaires, applicable throughout the nine participating countries, for the assessment of fruit and vegetable consumption and potential determinants of consumption in the targeted age group. Secondly, cross-sectional surveys in all nine countries were conducted to assess intake levels and explore determinants in children and their parents. Furthermore, personal and group interviews with children, parents and teachers were conducted. The combined information from these studies was used to design a school-based intervention. The Pro Children Project provides up-to-date intake levels and truly comparable data on fruit and vegetable consumption for the first time. The ongoing evaluation will show if the Pro Children intervention can contribute to healthier diets in European schoolchildren, and will point out the potentials and constraints in implementing school-based intervention strategies across Europe.