Common Questions

What if students don't have fruit and vegetables to bring to school?

Which states have Crunch&Sip^®?

Why is it so important that students drink water?

Why should students drink in class?

How much water should children drink?

How can we make water more appealing to children?

How safe is our water?

Do we need to encourage children to drink water all year round?

Why should children eat more fruit and vegetables?

How many fruit and vegetables do children need to eat?

What is a serve of fruit?

What is a serve of vegetables?

Why have a classroom morning or afternoon Crunch&Sip^® Break?

Should students eat snacks like muesli bars or fruit leathers in class?

Should we let students eat dried fruit in class?

How can we make fruit and vegetables more appealing to children?

Can we replace fresh fruit and vegetables or water with juice?

What about the mess students make during the Crunch&Sip^® break?

What about the extra trips to the toilet during class-time?

What can we do if the whole school doesn't support Crunch&Sip^®?

What about the students that don't bring fruit or vegetables?

Should we let students 'graze' on 'brain foods' in class?

Q1. What if students don't have fruit and vegetables to bring to school?
A. Some students may not have access to fruit and vegetables each day, particularly in lower socio-economic areas. Your school should have strategies that suit your school community needs. Some ideas other schools have used include:

Providing fruit at cost price to disadvantaged students through the school canteen
Employing the same strategy used for children who forget their lunch money ie. students can order fruit or vegetables and parents reimburse the canteen
Making sure the school policy contains a strategy about providing fruit or vegetables for students that are unable to bring fruit or vegetables from home
Growing your own. Plant fruit trees or vegetable gardens on school property to provide an ongoing supply
Liaising with local Aboriginal student support organisations to assist Aboriginal students
Asking local growers or stores for sponsorship

Q2.Which states have Crunch&Sip^®?
A. Crunch&Sip^® is available in Western Australia, New South Wales through the Healthy Kids School Canteen Association and in South Australia through the SA Dental Service.

Q3. Why is it so important that students drink water?
A. Water is good for you. Our bodies are made up of 50-60% water. Water lost each day through breathing, sweating and going to the toilet needs to be replaced, especially in hot weather.

Adequate fluid intake is essential to good health. Not drinking enough fluid causes dehydration. Any level of dehydration can cause physical symptoms such as headaches and irritability. Given the impact of dehydration on physical ability, it is believed that your ability to concentrate will be worse if you are dehydrated.

Q4. Why should students drink in class?
A. Thirst is not a good indicator of dehydration. By the time a person is thirsty they are usually already dehydrated to some extent.

Children rarely drink enough during break times at school and often forget to drink unless reminded. Allowing and reminding students to drink water in class increases the likelihood that they will drink more.

Drinking often, especially before, during and after physical activity is the best way to stay hydrated.

Q5. How much water should children drink?
A. The recommended daily amounts of fluid for children and adolescents are:

5 glasses (1 litre) for 5 - 8 year olds
7 glasses (1.5 litres) for 9 - 12 year olds
8-10 glasses (2 litres) for 13+ years

More water is needed if children are exercising or sweating due to heat.

Q6. How can we make water more appealing to children?
A. Let children see you enjoying drinking water. Ensure children have their own individual water bottles, smaller bottles of about 300ml - 500ml are best suited for younger children.

Serve water icy cold!
For school, freeze water in bottles to send to school.
At home, always keep a jug or bottle of cold water in the fridge and serve with ice. Try floating a slice of lemon, orange or some strawberries in a jug of water.

Q7. How safe is our water?
A. The question about what is the best and safest water to drink often worries parents and teachers. The answer depends on where you live. Generally tap water from the mains/community supply is safe to drink without further treatment. Tap water in many places contains fluoride, which helps protect children's teeth.

Rainwater is only as safe as the roof from which it is collected and generally it is wise to boil for young children.

Q8. Do we need to encourage children to drink water all year round?
A. It is important that children are encouraged to drink water all year round. Dehydration does not only occur during the hot months of the year. Children can experience dehydration in the winter if they do not consume the recommended amount of water each day.

Q9. Why should children eat more fruit and vegetables?
A. We all know fruit and vegetables are good for us, and they taste great! They are packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre and come in their own wrapper. Regularly eating diets high in fruit and vegetables protects us against a number of diseases. Most children are not eating enough fruit and vegetables to establish healthy eating habits for life. See recommended daily serves.

Citrus fruits (orange, mandarin, and grapefruit), nectarines, pineapple, strawberries and kiwi fruit are good sources of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is essential for healthy teeth and bones. It also increases the absorption of iron from foods, and promotes wound healing.

Apricots, rockmelons, mangoes, carrots and red capsicum are good sources of Vitamin A which helps keep skin and eyes healthy and protects the body against infection. Dietary fibre found in fruit and vegetables helps keep the bowel healthy and prevent constipation.

Q10. How many fruit and vegetables do children need to eat?
A. Children are encouraged to Go for 2&5^® . It is important to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Include raw and cooked, and many different colours. The amount of fruit and vegetables recommended depends on age, appetite and activity levels.

Recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables for children and adolescents

Age of child (years Fruit (serves) Vegetables (serves)

4-7 1-2 2-4

8-11 1-2 3-5

12-18 3-4 4-9

Source: The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
One serve of fruit is 150 grams, one serve of vegetables is 75 grams

Lower serve recommendations are for children who eat a diet high in cereal foods (eg. rice, pasta and breads). Higher serve recommendations are for children who eat a diet that is more evenly spread across the five food groups. See The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating for more information.

Q11. What is a serve of fruit?
A. One serve of fruit is equal to one medium piece piece of fruit, two smaller pieces or 1 cup of chopped fruit.

Q12. What is a serve of vegetables?
A. One serve of vegetables is equal to one medium potato, ½ cup cooked vegetables (including legumes) or one cup of salad vegetables.

Q13. Why have a classroom morning or afternoon Crunch&Sip^® Break?
A. Allowing students to eat fruit or vegetables in class in the morning or afternoon helps students to 're-fuel' during the 'gap' between breakfast and morning tea or lunch and afternoon tea. At these 'gap' times children's attention may start to wane in class.

Crunch&Sip^® break also gives children the opportunity to eat the piece of fruit that might otherwise be left in their lunchbox and not be eaten at all.

Q14. Should students eat snacks like muesli bars or fruit leathers in class?
A. No. Foods such as muesli bars and fruit leathers are often high in sugar and have a tendency to stick to teeth. Eating sugary foods can increase the risk of tooth decay. It is best to limit sugar intake to meal times when the increased saliva flow provides a cleansing action -helping to protect teeth.

Q15. Should we let students eat dried fruit in class?
A. The sugars found in fresh fruit and vegetables are safe for teeth. Dried fruits, such as sultanas and dried apricots contain high concentrated natural sugar, however, due to their sticky nature they tend to cling to teeth. Although dried fruit is permitted, it is not recommended, fresh fruit or vegetables are the best choice.

Q16. How can we make fruit and vegetables more appealing to children?
A. Research has found that children prefer small, cold, crisp, juicy and sweet fruits and colourful, crisp, fresh vegetables. Try the following tips to encourage children to enjoy fruit and vegetables:

Buy a variety of seasonal fresh fruit so children don't become bored
Involve children in choosing what fruit and vegetables to buy
Cut fruit and vegetables into small manageable pieces
See the Crunch&Sip^® Parent brochure for more ideas

Q17. Can we replace fresh fruit and vegetables or water with juice?
A. No. The idea is to eat fresh fruit or vegetables and drink water. Water is the only drink allowed in the classroom.

Fresh fruit and vegetables have more fibre, vitamins and minerals than fruit juice. Since there is no fibre in fruit juice it does not fill you up as much as fruit and vegetables do.

Did you know that you would need to process over three apples to get just one glass of apple juice? Fruit juice contains high concentrations of fruit sugar and often added sugar. Drinking fruit juice often can cause tooth decay and reduce a child's appetite.

Q18. What about the mess students make during the Crunch&Sip^® break?
A. You can stop students from making a mess during Crunch&Sip^® breaks. This is particularly relevant to younger children. Crunch&Sip^® teachers share some ideas:

Set up and follow Crunch&Sip^® break see Classroom rules
Ask for fruit or vegetable to be cut and sent in a sealed container
Ask parents to provide a laminated or rubber place-mat
To prevent water spillage on desks, allocate space at the side of the classroom for water bottles. It needs to be a place where students can get to them easily

Q19. What about the extra trips to the toilet during class-time?
A. Some teachers worry that students will need to go to the toilet a lot more when they are drinking extra water in class. Whilst this might happen initially, it should settle down after a couple of weeks. The other thing to remember is that the benefits of drinking enough water far outweigh a few extra toilet breaks. Why not try scheduling a couple of extra toilet breaks during the day where students can also take the opportunity to stretch their legs.

Q20. What can we do if the whole school doesn't support Crunch&Sip^®?
A. Firstly, don't give up! Many Crunch&Sip^® schools started with only one keen staff member or parent taking the lead. A single teacher starting a Crunch&Sip^® break in their classroom can start the whole school moving towards becoming a Crunch&Sip^® school. Try to enlist the help of other key people in the school. Remember, sometimes these things take time.

Q21. What about the students that don't bring fruit or vegetables?
A. The first step is to try to find out why. If students are simply forgetting, try some of the following

Remind students at the end of each day to bring fruit or vegetable and water
Send a letter home to parents
Place a reminder in the newsletter
Prompt students to remember by getting them to record their participation each day. Use the weekly or monthly Tally for students

If students are not bringing fruit or vegetables due to financial reasons you could try:

Asking the school committees (eg. P&C) to purchase fruit or vegetables for at risk students
Asking parents, local growers or retailers for donations of fruit or vegetables
Planting fruit trees or vegetable gardens on the school grounds

Q22. Should we let students 'graze' on 'brain foods' in class?
A. No. Grazing between meals can lead to overweight, or tooth decay. The set Crunch&Sip^® breaks allow students to 're-fuel' between other meals times. There is no such thing as a brain food.