Grab 5! adopts a whole school approach. Adopting a whole school approach is key to the success of any Grab 5! project. By a whole school approach we mean first, that all aspects of school life are considered and that healthy eating messages being given throughout the school day are consistent with each other and mutually supportive. Second, the whole school community is involved in the project, having a say and helping out with the planning and implementation.

Adopting a whole school approach is important because it ensures:

• Appropriate and realistic planning. The school community decides for itself what its priorities are, what will be done and how. Activities planned are therefore appropriate for the school's needs and circumstances.
  
• Ownership. By involving the whole school community in the planning and implementation of the project, people are more likely to feel ownership of and therefore commitment to it. This will help to ensure that messages being given about healthy eating are reinforced across all aspects of school life.
  
• Sustainability. Because there are many people involved to keep the project going, it will not collapse if one key person leaves . Also, by integrating the project into the school's wider aims and objectives it will become imbedded into everyday school life.

The starting point for any Grab 5! project is to recognise the reasons why children don't eat more fruit and vegetables.

Most children (and adults!) already know that fruit and vegetables are good for them but something is preventing this knowledge from being put into practise. Classroom education on nutrition needs to be backed up by changes that address the barriers that prevent children eating more fruit and vegetables. The key barriers are acceptability (children don't like fruit and/or vegetables), accessibility (fruit and vegetables are not an available or attractive option) and affordability (fruit and vegetables are considered too expensive or risky to buy).

Grab 5! does not provide free fruit to schools but it does provide advice on what schools can do to create a school environment where fruit and vegetables are positively promoted and obstacles preventing children eating them are removed. Schools can also be catalysts in a broader community approach to improve children's diets which can work with parents, businesses and professionals.

Grab 5! activities are more likely to be successful and children's eating habits more likely to be influenced if the project is:

Examples of activities that have been undertaken by Grab 5! schools:

• Development of a whole school food policy
• Fruit and vegetable growing
  
• Special events, such as health weeks and apple days
  
• Working with caterers on lunch time menus
  
• Tasting occasions
  
• Shop visits
  
• Breakfast clubs
  
• Playground markets
  
• Visiting speakers
  
• Fruit tuck shops
  
• Farm visits
  
• Cooking
  
• Food related competition