Junk food generation not taught to eat fruit

Children raised on a diet of junk food are no longer being taught how to eat fresh fruit, it was claimed today.

A generation of "TV dinner kids" are losing basic eating skills that were taken for granted by their parents, according to a survey. Around nine per cent of those asked said they did not know what to do with a banana and seven per cent said they could not peel an orange.

It suggests that a Government campaign to get schoolchildren to eat at least one piece of fresh fruit a day has made little progress in deprived parts of the country.

The survey of nine to 13-year-olds uncovered an astonishing level of "fruit-phobia" among children brought up on unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks. Only one per cent ate any fresh fruit on a daily basis and 15 per cent could not even identify a pear.

Campaigners said the survey backed up earlier findings that many poorer families now live on a "fruit-free" diet.

Kath Dalmeny, spokeswoman for the Food Commission, said: "If you only have a ?15-amonth food budget you cannot afford to buy anything that the kids might not touch."

Health Minister Melanie Johnson admitted that levels of fruit consumption in poorer areas were well below desirable levels.

She said: "Children should be eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day in order to protect them against disease."