Overview
The Food Dude Healthy Eating Programme has been developed on the basis of psychological principles that are known to influence children’s food choice.
The programme is designed for use in primary schools. It comprises two key elements:
1.) Food Dude Video Adventures
The Food Dudes are four young superheroes - Charlie, Tom, Raz, and Rocco
The Food Dudes are “cool” and always successful. They are involved in saving the Life Force and compete with a gang of baddies called the Junk Punks, who plot to take away the energy of the world by depriving it of fruit and vegetables. In their video adventures, the Dudes gain special powers by eating fruit and vegetables and are able to foil the Junk Punks. Children who watch the video are urged to help keep the Life Force strong by eating fruit and vegetables. The videos also include endorsements by popular children's celebrities for eating fruit and vegetables.
The purpose of the Food Dudes is to provide influential social models for children to imitate.
View a clip of the video. (.mpg 12Mb)
2.) Food Dude Rewards 
The rewards used in the programme range from stickers and certificates to a variety of Food Dude prizes.
These are given to children who eat fruit and vegetables as incentives to follow the Food Dudes' healthy eating advice. The rewards are used at the beginning of the programme to encourage children to repeatedly try fruits and vegetables so that they begin to enjoy the taste of the foods.
These additional elements provide support for the main programme:
- Food Dude letters (click for access to sample letter as PDF): A key means of communication between the Food Dudes and the children, the letters provide information about rewards and the benefits of eating a healthy diet, as well as giving encouragement and praise for the children’s eating efforts.
- Food Dude Homepack. The aim of the Homepack is to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables at home through the involvement of parents and a system of self-monitoring (see sample home chart).