DIETS tend to get healthier as children become adults, according to a study carried out in the region.

Researchers at Newcastle University analysed the changes in the diets of 200 schoolchildren over 20 years.

Contrary to popular opinion, nutritionists found that most people's diets get healthier as they move from being children to being young adults.

The adults surveyed were found to be eating around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did when they were children, according to Wellcome Trust-funded study.

Researchers also concluded that while healthy eating messages were getting through to most people, a minority needed help to improve their diets.

A third of participants said they were too busy to prepare healthy meals.

Schemes such as the Government's Five A Day project, which recommends five portions of fruit or vegetables per day, need to be combined with advice tailored to individuals, perhaps in consultations with doctors or nurses.

Amelia Lake, a registered dietician and lead author of the study, said: "Diet needs to be taken more seriously."

The study, which involved interviewing 200 Northumberland schoolchildren aged 11-12 in the early 1980s and re-interviewing them two decades later when they were in their early 30s, showed that children who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables appear to keep this up into early adulthood.

"This reaffirms the importance of the National Fruit in Schools Scheme, where children are being encouraged to eat fruit," said Miss Lake.

In March this year, more than 103,000 pupils in the region began receiving daily pieces of free fruit as part of this scheme.

Neil Nevens, 36, a police officer from the Ashington area, said he wasn't interested in healthy eating when he was a child but is now keen on a better diet for his family.