FRUIT for health
Here's an interesting article from an Australian newspaper about the benefits of introducing enougn fruit to someones diet
what do you think
Diet change fruitful for sick kids
By Erin O'Dwyer
November 6, 2005
It was a simple plan, but spectacularly effective.
Last year a group of doctors began taking boxes of fresh fruit to a remote Aboriginal community in a bid to improve skin infections and hearing loss.
For years doctors had prescribed antibiotics to children in Baryulgil, near Grafton, with little success. One in four had skin infections and one in two had middle-ear disease.
But in 2003 Bulgarr Ngaru Aboriginal Medical Corporation's Dr Ray Jones discovered that every child at the local primary school was vitamin C and iron deficient.
He began the fruit program and after just six months of fresh fruit deliveries, skin infections were reduced to nil and hearing loss improved by almost one-third.
Since then, the program has been extended across the Clarence Valley and parents are improving their children's health by changing the contents of their lunch boxes.
"What they were suffering from was a lack of good food," Dr Ray Jones. "This community is only 80 kilometres from Grafton and they are living in Rwandan conditions in terms of nutrition."
Poor fruit and vegetable consumption is not confined just to Aboriginal communities. A landmark national campaign - Go For 2 & 5 - was launched recently to promote better fruit and vegetable consumption and reduce heart disease, cancer and obesity.
Australian adults need two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day to get the vitamins and nutrients they need. The most recent National Health Survey found only one in two was eating enough fruit and one in three was getting enough vegetables.
Dietitians Association of Australia figures show that one in 10 Australian cancer cases can be linked to inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption. Eating more can help reduce high cholesterol, reduce the risk of blocked arteries and lower blood pressure.
"Eating more fruit and vegetables may be the single most important dietary change needed to reduce the risk of chronic disease, including heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and stroke," Go For 2 & 5 national project officer Christina Pollard said.
"Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption by just one serve would save the Australian health care system about $157 million a year for heart disease alone."
Nutritionists attribute poor consumption in city areas to the fact that we cook less at home. In remote communities, cost and availability are key issues.
Grafton mother-of-two Sue Torrens recently began caring for three Koori foster children aged two, four and six. She had always encouraged her own children to eat fresh food, but the extra mouths to feed meant her grocery budget was stretched.
For just $5 each week she joined Bulgarr Ngaru's fruit program and now receives a box of fresh fruit and vegies each week. One child's boils have disappeared and another's hearing has improved.
"Because of the financial help, I've been able to get extra things like kiwifruit whereas before I could only get apples, oranges and bananas," she said.
"We had a bit of a fight at the beginning to get the fruit into them, but we make fruit salad every night and they love it."
Source: The Sun-Herald
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