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The Healthy Living Programme’s Gill Edgar educates school children on exotic fruits and vegetables.

Three classes from the David Livingstone Memorial Primary School in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, visited their local Spar store last week to learn about healthy eating.

As part of a Healthy Living Scotland initiative, the children took part in an exercise session outside Spar Blantyre and went on a tour of the store to learn about healthy eating. 

“We love interacting with the kids, it’s really good fun,” store owner Michelle Razzaq told Convenience Store.

The children were shown a variety of fruit and veg, including pomegranates, aubergine and squash. “We were showing them more exotic fruits and vegetables - what they are, what they smell like,” said Michelle.

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While many of the local children are regular customers, she explained that they aren’t necessarily familiar with the fresh produce on offer.

“When they come in they go to the sweets and crisps sections,” she said. “I think there are a lot of kids who don’t know what a mango is. They were guessing a passion fruit was a plum or a potato!” 

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Michelle and Gillian Edgar, field manager from The Healthy Living Programme, were soon able to set the kids straight and teach them about the importance of a healthy diet. “The aim is to promote a healthier alternative, to let kids know how important certain foods are for their bodies, for example, milk for calcium, which is good for your bones,” says Michelle. ”The kids had a great time - asking questions and volunteering what they knew.”

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As well as gaining a better understanding of different foods, the children were given apples and bananas to take home. 

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation Healthy Living Programme provides free point of sale and display stands to help promote and merchandise healthier products.

If you are interested in getting a visit from one of the group’s development managers please call 0131 343 7602 or message via Facebook or Twitter.

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