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During his visit, he was able to see the campaign in action by joining in with the vegetable-themed activities designed to ‘inspire’ pupils to eat more vegetables. He discussed the benefits of the campaign with the teaching staff.

Veg Power’s Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign that helps to tackle one of the major public health issues in the UK - poor vegetable consumption. According to research 80% of children are not eating enough vegetables and a third of kids are eating less than a portion per day.

Poor dietary health is known to have a negative impact on many aspects of children’s health but the impact lasts into adulthood resulting in increased healthcare costs and reduced productivity.

Dan Parker, chief executive at Veg Powerhttps://vegpower.org.uk/, said: “We were thrilled that The Rt Hon Steve Reed was able to join us on this school visit and see the Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign in full swing. The school visits really bring the campaign alive and by making vegetables fun, he was able to witness the change in children who were soon chomping on their vegetables.”

Over half of parents whose children had taken part more than once (55%) reported a lasting and long term improvement in both the volume and variety of vegetables eaten. This year, 420,000 children from 1,511 primary and special schools across the UK have benefited from the campaign.

Nicola Gentleman, deputy head at Sunnyhill Primary School in Lambeth, added: “Our pupils and staff have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign. There has been a real buzz around the school and lots more vegetables consumed as a result.”