Vienna, Va. – Ho, ho, ho, crunch! The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) has launched its 2002 "Apples for Santa" campaign, providing a fun and exciting platform for marketing apples during the Christmas holidays — and highlighting apples' healthy image in the process.

Designed to encourage the healthy new holiday tradition of leaving an apple for Santa, for his better health, USApple's award-winning nutrition education and promotion campaign features activities designed to encourage maximum consumer press coverage of apples in the weeks ahead. This is the campaign's third year.

Consumer Survey: Kids Say Apples for Santa, Instead
Hey, kids … looking for a good "in" with Santa this holiday season? Leave him a delicious, yet nutritious, snack on Christmas Eve — an apple. In fact, a survey of kids recently showed 59 percent think an apple is the healthiest choice for Santa's snack.

Kids were recently asked to select the most nutritious snack Santa could eat to keep his energy up as he delivers presents all over the world and, resoundingly, they said apples are the healthiest snack option for their most anticipated Christmas visitor. The survey was conducted by USApple on Kaboose.com, the largest independently operated children-and-family Web property.

More than two-thirds (79 percent) of the young respondents recognize the best way to stay healthy over the holidays is to combine exercise with a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables. However, the survey showed nutrition is not the only reason kids keep reaching for apples. While some kids can cite one specific reason why they love apples, overall, six in 10 said they loved apples for all their great attributes — sweetness, crunchiness, and nutritional value.

"Kids have always been big fans of apples, and we're happy to learn they know apples are a key part of healthy holiday eating," says Julia Daly, USApple's vice president of public relations. "The variety of colors and flavors are appealing to children, and they taste so good and sweet, kids are more satisfied after eating an apple than other, less healthy snacks."

USApple is spreading the news of this survey to food and health media nationwide, to generate press coverage of "Apples for Santa" in newspapers and other media outlets of apples during the holiday season.

Recent research suggests kids have good reason to turn to apples for their better health, Daly said. In September, researchers at the National Public Health Institute in Finland released a study finding that apples and apple nutrients keep the doctor away by reducing the risk of many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes and asthma. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Food Pages to Feature Apples for Santa
At the same time USApple is promoting results of its kids' survey to consumer media, food pages around the country will be featuring holiday uses of apples, thanks to food page artwork sponsored by the association. USApple partnered with the Cranberry Marketing Committee to showcase healthy, delicious holiday recipes featuring apples and cranberries, and promoting the healthy new holiday tradition of leaving an apple for Santa.

"Apples will be covered in newspaper food pages reaching 9 million subscribers, encouraging them to leave an apple for Santa, and to cook healthfully during the holidays - that is tremendous reach," said Daly.

Award-Winning Campaign Has Health At Heart
USApple's "Apples for Santa" campaign is part promotion platform, part award-winning nutrition education program. The campaign won a National Excellence Award from the Produce for Better Health Foundation in 2000, for excellence in 5 A Day communications.

"We are incredibly proud to have been recognized by the foundation for our efforts to promote the 5 A Day message through this campaign," said Daly.

Central to the "Apples for Santa" nutrition education campaign are the 5 A Day-focused SANTA healthful guidelines:

• Stick with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid for healthy eating advice — including at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day
• Add variety to your diet and spice to your life by eating a variety of foods each day
• Nothing is off limits — just eat less of some foods and more fruits and vegetables
• Take changing your eating patterns a day at a time, and you will build healthful habits for a lifetime
• Above all, enjoy eating! Food that is good for you can taste good, too

Note to Editors: For photography to accompany this information, visit the Image Library in U.S. Apple Association's Media Web site at www.usapple.org, or contact USApple for a copy of our creative support CD-ROM featuring high-resolution digital images of the best photos from USApple's library. For more information on apples and apple products, visit the U.S. Apple Association's Web site at www.usapple.org.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state and regional apple associations representing the nation's 9,000 apple growers, as well as more than 450 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple's mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.