The Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents outlines the types and amounts of food children need to eat each day to get adequate nutrients for good health and well-being. Children need to eat a wide variety of foods everyday, from all of the five food groups. The number of serves of each food group depends on their age but varies from:
Breads & Cereals: 5-11 (1 serve = 1 cup cereal, 2 slices bread)
Vegetables & legumes: 2-4 (1 serve = 1/2 cup cooked vegetables, 1 cup salad vegetables)
Fruit: 1-3 (1 serve = 1 medium piece fruit, tbsp sultanas, 125ml fruit juice)
Milk, yoghurt, cheese: 2-3 (1 serve = 250ml glass milk, 200g yoghurt)
Lean meat, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts: 1/2 - 1 (1 serve = 65-100g meat, 2 small eggs)
Teach your children healthy eating habits for life from a young age. Teach them that “everyday” foods are foods like fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, dairy, legumes, lean meats and eggs. Teach them that “occasional” foods like sweet biscuits, cakes, potato chips, chocolates and soft drinks should be shared and enjoyed on special occasions. Water is the drink of choice for children.For a PDF poster visit NHMRC website http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n30.pdf
Accredited Practising Dietitian
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