Children need a healthy diet to have enough energy to last throughout the day, and to have the right mix of nutrients for healthy growth and development.
How many serves should my child have a day?
The five food groups’ standard serves sizes help ensure children get the right amount of nutrients for healthy growth and development. For children, the number of serves they need each day will depend on their age, gender, height, weight and physical activity levels. View the recommended number of serves for toddlers, children, and adolescents.
What about portion size?
‘Portion size’ is the amount of food your child actually eats. Sometimes your child’s portion sizes will be smaller than the standard serve size, and sometimes they will be larger. The total amount of food your child eats across the day should end up being similar to the recommended number of serves for each food group.
Children who grow up in families that enjoy a variety of nutritious foods from the five food groups are more likely to make their own healthy choices as they get older.
Choose healthy fats
Healthy fats are an essential part of a balanced diet for children. They are also known as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Healthy fats are found in some plant-based oils and spreads (such as olive, sunflower, safflower, soybean, and canola oil), avocado, nuts, seeds, and fish. To support good health, it’s important that children eat healthy fats in appropriate amounts.
Unhealthy fats are saturated and trans fats. They are found in a range of foods including fatty meats, processed meats, full fat dairy products, coconut and palm oil, potato crisps, deep-fried foods, many takeaway foods like pizza and burgers, and commercially baked products like biscuits and pastries. Children whose diets contain too many unhealthy fats are more likely to have higher cholesterol levels and could be at risk of developing heart disease later in life.
Learn more about healthy and unhealthy fats for children.
Limit intake of discretionary foods and drinks
‘Discretionary foods’ are called that because they are not a necessary part of our regular diet. They are high in kilojoules, saturated fat, added sugars, and added salt. When we eat discretionary foods, they can take the place of more nutritious foods. Eating discretionary foods too often can increase the risk of being above a healthy weight.
If chosen, discretionary foods should be eaten only sometimes and in small amounts. These foods include soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened drinks, meat pies and other pastries, processed meat and sausages, lollies, chocolate, sweet biscuits and desserts, potato crisps, and ice cream.
