Capespan UK has been appointed an official sponsor of Healthy Eating Week which was launched this week in Bristol by HRH The Princess Royal.

At the launch event at Wansdyke Primary School, the organisers of Heathy Eating Week, the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), also unveiled new research showing that primary school children are still falling woefully short of achieving their "5 A Day" of fruit and vegetables.

According to the research, conducted by the BNF as part of Healthy Eating Week 2015, the majority of UK primary school children know they should be eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but just 38% are achieving this.

Over 7,400 nursery, primary and secondary schools across the UK are participating in the Week, during which a quarter* (2.5 million) of all the UK's school aged children will be provided with lessons about healthy eating, cooking, food provenance and the benefits of physical activity.

The research shows that the "5 a day" message is getting through, with 73% of primary school children having a good understanding of how many portions of fruit and vegetables they should be eating. There is, however, a gap between knowledge and behaviour: just 38% of primary school children recorded answers which suggest they are reaching the required levels and above.

Indeed, more than one in every ten primary school children said they eat no fruit or vegetables at all.

Steve McVickers, MD of Capespan, fruit and vegetable grower-exporters and Healthy Eating Week sponsors, commented on the gap: "Raising the profile of Healthy Eating week will address the behavioural change needed to get children eating more fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

"As part of our own ethical agenda, Capespan is very pleased to be supporting the British Nutritional Foundation and getting behind this initiative.

To stimulate improvements in diet and lifestyle habits, BNF's Healthy Eating Week will be setting participating schools a series of healthy challenges, including "Have 5 A Day". Schools have been given trackers encouraging participation at school, at home and at work, and activity cards and teaching aids complementing curriculum goals.

* Based on 7,400 schools registered to participate in Healthy Eating Week, as 24 percent of a total of 29,785 schools in the UK [source: www.gov.uk, www.deni.gov.uk, www.gov.scot and www.gov.wales].