Draft Resolution No. 398 /X

" Recommends the Government for the free distribution of fruits and vegetables in schools and

other measures directed at the prevention and combating of childhood obesity. "

EXHIBITION OF REASONS

I-The strategy for Europe in relation to health problems linked to the

nutrition, overweight and obesity.

On May 30, 2007, the European Commission set out a strategy in respect of

health problems linked to nutrition, overweight and obesity, which includes

targeted information and education campaigns aimed at vulnerable audiences,

in cooperation with Member States. In the last three decades, the levels of

overweight and obesity in the EU population increased drastically,

especially in children.

This trend, according to the White Paper on a Strategy for Europe in matter

of Health Problems linked to Nutrition, indicates a worsening of malnutrition and

of the reduction of physical activity in the population of the EU, which predisposes to the increase in

incidence of various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, the

hypertension, type 2 diabetes, the cerebral vascular accidents, certain cancers,

musculoskeletal disorders and even mental disorders. In the long term, this will have a

negative impact on life expectancy and will mean for many, a quality of life

lower.

The European Commission presented on July 8, 2008 a proposal for the

setting up of a programme, on the scale of the EU, intended to distribute, free of charge,

fruit and vegetables to children from the schools of the 1-cycle of basic education. With this

initiative, the European Commission aims to promote, together with the school population,

healthy eating habits that, according to the studies carried out, will have

tendency to keep up throughout life.

The programme provides for the provision of EUR 90 million annually (

from 50%, and from 75% to the convergence regions), to cover about 26 million

of children in the 27 Member States of the European Union already in the next school year

(2009/2010).

In the EU, it is estimated that there are about 22 million overweight children,

of which more than 5 million are obese. According to the report approved by the

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of Parliament

European, on September 25, it is anticipated that up to 2010 more than 1.3 million children

go on to be overweight or become obese.

Improvement of food can play an important role in the fight against this

problem, which the World Health Organization of the United Nations considers as a

of the most serious public health challenges in the Twenty-First Century, and whose prevention should

constitute a priority in public policies.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) constitutes, in turn, an instrument of the Commission

with regard to the achievement of the public health objectives, through the

Reform of the Common Market Organization (CMO) in the fruit and product sector

vegetables. In this reform, the Commission has committed itself to encouraging the distribution of the

surplus production to public education establishments and holiday centres

for children. On the other hand, the Commission understood to still use other instruments of

to encourage healthier eating in Europe through the promotion of the

consumption of fruits and vegetables, such as the achievement of awareness campaigns and

information aimed at young consumers, as well as the creation of a project

that encourages the consumption of fruit in school, with community co-financing.

II-Obesity as a major public health problem

Obesity is a huge public health problem, by the high prevalence,

chronicity, morbidity and mortality from which it accompanies, as well as by the

difficulty and complexity of its treatment, as presented in the Plan

National of Health 2004-2010.

Obesity is a growing problem in Europe. It is estimated that its prevalence

in the various countries is located between 20 and 35%, particularly worrying trend

among children from the most disadvantaged socio-economic strata.

Portugal is one of the EU countries with the highest prevalence of overt children

weight, possessing an estimated rate in the 34%, i.e. one in three children

Portuguese has excessive weight and one in ten is obese.

The numbers of this scourge have been tripling in many of the European countries, since

1980. The rate of growth of this disease in Europe has followed a trend such that

annually get together more 400000 children to the number of the 14,000,000 who have weight

excessive, of which 3,000,000 are obese. The Mediterranean countries present the most

high prevalence rates of obesity, with emphasis for Italy (37% of the

child population).

Childhood obesity is reaching more and more young Portuguese children and young people. A

European study, with origin in Denmark, reveals that Portuguese adolescents

are among the most obese in Europe, with the consequent disorders

cardiovascular, respiratory, orthopedics and others. Alarming is also the

appearance of children with type II diabetes, syndrome until there is little exclusive of the

adults.

The Faculty of Nutrition of Porto, following a study conducted on the

juvenile obesity in Europe (European project "Pro Children"), recommended to the

Government to withdraw from school bars and canteens the products likely to

contribute to the rise in obesity in children and young people, as is the case with

sugar-sweetened and non-fruit soft drinks, the fries and other salted fried foods and

sugar-sweetened.

Studies directed at schools of the public network and privately held network conclude that if

eat poorly in the lunchrooms, but eat even worse in the buffs and bars of the same

schools. The school food supply has shown to be essentially repetitive, poor at

fruits and vegetables and rich in sugary and salty foods. These data are from large

relevance because they demonstrate that the food made available to children and to the

teenagers in Portuguese schools presents huge nutritious caries and a

significant excess caloric.

In short, a broad set of factors are being referenced that are at the base of the

alarming increase in obesity numbers-the epidemic of the Twenty-First Century, as

considers the World Health Organization.

According to the ultimo Report on World Health 2002, food is direct

or indirectly related to hypertension, cholesterol, obesity and excess

by weight, and consequently with insulin resistance, diabetes and diverse

incapacitating chronic pathologies, compromising quality and life expectancy.

III-The fruit-fruit trees in the food

Fruits and vegetables are indispensable food in the Mediterranean diet, so lauded

by the nutritionists. In addition to an important role in the digestive process

functional, fruit and vegetables have a relevant and proven role in the prevention of

various types of cancer along the whole digestive tube. From the nutritional point of view,

are low-caloric foods, rich in fibers, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Is

derived from the polyphenols, compounds that have an extraordinary capacity of

function as antioxidants, or be it to pick up oxygen-free radicals, which

these foods protect the cells against oxidation and aging, and so

countering the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases.

The changing food habits of Portuguese families, with an abandonment

progressive of the Mediterranean diet to which we have been watching for the past few years, has

triggered a lower consumption of cereals, fruits and vegetables. Portugal, currently,

records a low consumption of fruit hortofruit, especially in the age ranges more

young people (second data from the European project "Pro Children", only 23.2% of girls

and 18.1% of the boys aged 15 refer to consuming vegetables daily).

In fact, our country presents a decrease in the consumption of fruit-fruit.

It is estimated that the consumption of these foods in Portugal will cite at 312 g/person/day

(175 g/person/day of fruit and 147g/pessoa/dia vegetables, the soup being the main

source of horticultural consumption), a value below the daily minimum consumption

recommended by OMS/FAO-400 g/person/day.

Healthy eating is the first step to preventing obesity,

specifically childhood obesity that is currently the most common child disease

in Europe. It is with this premise that the Assembly of Republica welcomes the initiative

community in the fight against childhood obesity, in a broader framework of policies

preventive public health on overweight, obesity and chronic diseases.

Children and adolescents with overweight or obesity are the ones who practice

less physical activity and have less correct eating habits (several hours without

eat, little fruit and vegetables, poor food in fibers). A healthy food

reinforces the potential for learning and the well-being of children and adolescents.

In that context, the National Health Plan 2010 provides for the adoption of a program of

health driven to overweight and obesity, in a multidisciplinary approach and

intersectoral. Children and adolescents need special attention in the fight

against obesity and the promotion of healthy living habits, until because one considers

which is at work with these age ranges that will be able to get bigger gains in

health correlated with that pathology.

Stemming from the Global Food Strategy, Physical Activity and approved Health

by the World Health Assembly in May 2004, a partnership was held in the

scope of the United Nations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), concretized

in the "Initiative for the Promotion of Fruits and Vegetables". This global initiative aims to

raising the awareness of the importance of the benefits of the appropriate consumption of the

hortofruticulture, specifically in the prevention of " Noncommunicable chronic diseases

(cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal cancers, type II diabetes, and obesity) ".

IV-The hort-fruit row in Portuguese agriculture

The fruit and vegetable sector is a very much a component

important from national agriculture. The weight of the value of horticultural production increased from

significant form in the fortnight 2001-05, corresponding to 13.6% of the production

national agricultural. Already the fruit production evidenced a slight decrease in equal

period, by passing from 13.0% to 12.1%.

The national fruit production is dominated by the pear, which accounts for 42% of the production of the

sector, following apple (29%) and citrus fruits (14%). Vegetables are

dominated by tomato for the industry, following the melon (21%), the carrots (15%),

couves (12%), peppers (10%) and tomato in fresh (5%), the data most

recent from the National Institute of Statistics-Agricultural Statistics 2007.

The concentration of the offer and the preparation for the sale of the fresh fruit and vegetables, are

carried out in fruity plants with significant size, in parallel with other

smaller facilities. Its commercial distribution, in fresh condition,

refrigerated or processed, has been recording very significant changes,

translated into the enhancement of the role of the large distribution, in parallel with the changes in the

patterns of consumption. At the same time, we are witning the reduction of market shares of the

traditional retail establishments and business establishments

specialized.

Fruit consumption has doubled in the last twenty years, but such as products

horticultural, it has had great swings. A moderate increase until the middle of the decade

of 90, a steep growth in the years 1995 a to 1999, and a decrease from

2000.

Price developments have been far more pronounced in the consumer that in the producer, the

which constitutes, incidentally, a relevant aspect with reflections in the consumption habits of the

Portuguese. At present, it is seen to be a greater stratification of purchasing power,

with a demanding segment of consumers available to purchase products from

better quality or with some differentiation, on par with a segment

quantitatively much more representative where, the price continues to be the element

main in the purchasing decision.

In the framework of the Reform of the Common Market Organization (CMO) of fruit and

vegetables, the Portuguese Government, in July last submitted to the services of the

European Commission the National Strategy for this sector so that, in a way

supplementary to other supporting instruments, namely the Programme of

Rural Development (PRODER 2007-2013), be possible, at the end of your period of

effective, present a positive balance sheet in innovation and professionalization and induction

of gains in competitiveness in the fruit and vegetable sector.

The hort-fruit row is prioritised in Portugal and considered strategic in PRODER.

It has a lot of growth potential given the edu-climatic conditions, and may

come to achieve a good level of competitiveness in international markets, and so

relevant importance in the agricultural sector and the national economy.

In addition to the majorities of the investment that that program contemplates, the

row benefits still from interesting aids in the framework of the Agro-Ambiental Measures

of the CAP. With these aids, the producer adheres to the Mode of Biological Production or the

Integrated Production Mode, pledging to use child-friendly cultivation practices

of the environment, and still to use non-aggressive phytoarmaces for ecosystems and not

producers of toxic waste in those foods.

This accession of the farmers to those aids, and the growing environmental awareness of the

producers, allows to create an end product-fruit-fruit of the highest quality and with

greater safety for human consumption. On the other hand, taking into consideration that if

locates in the film (bark) and in the pulp subpellates a good portion of the vitamins and the

polyphenols existing in the fruit, it makes perfect sense to opt for the fruits resulting from the

organic production or integrated production and promote the intake of fruit "à dentada",

practical and healthy method of consumption of these foods.

The programme proposed by the European Commission for distribution, free of charge, fruit and

vegetables to children from the schools of the 1 Cycle Degree of Basic Education can contribute in a way

positive for the valorisation of the productions and local markets and in this way potentiate

the increase in the consumption of domestic products. The promotion of eating habits

healthy in school is a determining factor in achieving sustainable results

in the long term in the fight against obesity. In Portugal, the 1. Cycle Degree of Basic Education

covers a universe of 480,000 children.

V-The education for healthy eating

Health education, within the educational community-school and family, is a

critical factor for the success of the fight against obesity, in the perspective of promoting the

balanced feeding and healthy living habits. In fact, the National Programme

of School Health, inserted in the National Health Plan 2010, contemplates, among others

aspects, the promotion and protection of health and the prevention of disease within the

educational community.

The monitoring of the nutritional quality of the amendments in schools or the ban on sale in the

food and beverage schools with high content of fat, salt or sugar, as is

proposed in the recently passed report in the European Parliament, concerning the Book

White on the health problems linked to nutrition, overweight and the

obesity, constitute some of the important measures for the pursuit of that

objective. It is to be said that these measures are already a reality in schools in Belgium,

Norway and England.

Children and adolescents should be the priority of education policies

for healthy eating. In that prism, the free distribution of fruits and vegetables

in schools appears to be an important measure, not least in a context more

broad of the pedagogical training on food and health.

The School can make a decisive contribution to the adoption of behaviours more

healthy, finding themselves by this in an ideal position to promote such actions of

sensitization and information either from the educational community or from the

engaging community. As is emphasized in the said National Programme of

School Health, " the School competes, too, to educate for the values, promote health,

the training and civic participation of pupils, in a process of acquiring a

competencies that support lifelong learnings and promote the

autonomy. "

In that particular aspect, the fulfillment of the guiding principles of the " European Network

of Health Promoters of Health ", which aim to ensure interaction

school/family/middle, in a partnership between the health and education sectors, of which the

edition of the guide " Food education in school medium-a benchmark for an offer

food healthy " by the Ministry of Education, fruit of institutional cooperation

between the Directorate General for Health and the Directorate-General for Innovation and Development

Curricular is a good example.

In Portugal, there are some recent pedagogical projects in this field that

deserve our highlight, such as the project "A School and Peras" intended for the

students in preschool education and 1º cycle of the basic teaching of the Óbidos County

(partnership Town Hall of Óbidos and Granfer company-Fruit Producers, CRL,

which offers two pieces of fruit per week) and the project "Healthy School", which results

of a partnership between the Association of Apple Producers of Alcobaça (APMA) and the

Civil Government of Leiria and runs until the end of this academic year in 19 schools of that

district. Within this initiative a skillet will be made available to the bar of the

schools with products of Apple of Alcobaça and training classes are going to be held

civic, awareness raising actions with health professionals and study visits to

orchards and markets.

Still within that scope of the pedagogical projects, it deserves special reference the important

a dynamic role that the Ministry of Health, through the Platform Against the

Obesity, can play either from the school medium or by the population

Portuguese. It is a strategic measure, taken politically at the level

national, established in 2007 and which aims to develop cross-sectoral synergies, at the level

government and civil society.

In the OI (Childhood Obesity) project, the Platform Against Obesity proposes a

multifaceted strategy where epidemiological knowledge through the realization of

research that allows to know the prevalence of childhood obesity and the

food and other behaviours of children, as well as prevention in the environment

school assume maximum expression, with the aim of stabilizing the growth of

epidemic over the next 4-5 years and reverse the current trend of growth until 2015.

In turn the authorities, very dynamic agents, who progressively have been coming to

take on important responsibilities in the educational area, specifically at the level of the

preschool and the 1-cycle of basic education, deserve a particular emphasis. The

authorities currently run more than 6000 schools and in that perspective constitute

indispensable partners in the operationalization of preventive health programs

directed at the school population.

In short, in our view it is critical to ensure a political commitment,

primarily among the sectors of health, agriculture and education, in the promotion of

increased consumption of fruits and vegetables by the Portuguese population and in

particular by the school population. Urge to find integrated, multi-sector responses and

lasting in the fight against the epidemic of the twenty-first century-obesity. You need to act

how much before with actions and concrete measures for the resolution of this serious problem of

public health!

In these terms, and by the exposed, the Assembly of the Republic, pursuant to paragraph (b) of the

article 156 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, deliberates to recommend to the Government:

1) The membership of the Community Free distribution programme of fruits and vegetables in the

schools, having at attention that.

a. That the school population covered by this free distribution is that of the

compulsory education.

b. That the hortofrutteric products to be distributed, have preferentially

national, and are resulting from the Mode of Biological Production or the Way of

Integrated Production.

2) The preparation of a National Consumption Promotion Program of

Hortofruit, according to the guidelines of OMS/FAO, of multi-sector cariz

(agriculture, health and education), which involves civil society, parents and in charge of

education, the authorities, public institutions and the private sector, and that it is synergistic

with existing national policies;

3) The operationalization of a multidisciplinary observatory for the monitoring of the

fruit and vegetable distribution programme in schools, of their goals and objectives

national, as well as their impacts on the health of the school population, in the sector

hortofrutery, and in the eating habits of the Portuguese, specifically of the groups

socio-economic most disadvantaged.

4) The withdrawal from the sale of hypersaline and hypercaloric food from schools.

5) The pursuit and enhancement of the Food Education Programme in the Middle School, with

an effective mobilization of the educational community in that important desicration-Educate

for healthy lifestyles.

Palace of S. Bento, November 6, 2008

THE DEPUTIES