A Healthy Diet
Supporting Information
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What is a Healthy Diet?
Childhood obesity is on the increase, so establishing good eating
patterns early in life is very important.
A healthy diet is one that is based on the Eat Well Plate, which
shows the types and proportions of foods people need to have a
healthy and well balanced diet.
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of
HMSO and Queen’s Printer for Scotland. Source: Food Standards Agency
The Eat Well Plate
The Eat Well Plate gives a visual representation of the overall diet
for adults and children over the age of five that should come from
each of the five food groups in order to provide enough of the
important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre,
without too much fat and sugar. It shows how much of what you eat
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should come from each food group. It includes everything you eat
during the day, including snacks.
It is based on the eight guidelines for a healthy diet:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Enjoy your food
Eat a variety of different foods
Eat the right amount to be a healthy weight
Eat plenty of foods rich in starch and fibre
Don’t eat too much fat
Don’t eat sugary foods too often – and keep all sugar containing
foods and drinks to mealtimes
7. Look after the vitamin and minerals in your food
8. If you drink alcohol, keep within sensible limits
Between the ages of 2 and 5, children should gradually move to
eating the same foods as the rest of the family, in the proportions
shown on the Eat Well plate. However, they should have full fat
dairy produce.
It is also important to regulate salt intake – adults should have no
more than 6g per day. Children should have even less. Babies
need only a very small amount of salt – less than 1g (0.4g sodium) a
day up to 12 months. Their kidneys can't cope with larger amounts
of salt.
Babies who are breastfed will get the right amount of salt through
breast milk. Infant formula contains a similar amount.
Once a baby is eating solid foods (at six months), do not add salt to
food you make for children and be careful not to give infants foods
that aren't made specifically for babies, such as breakfast cereals
and pasta sauces, because these can be high in salt.
Eating too much salt can raise blood pressure, which triples the risk
of heart disease or stroke. Food cooked using fresh ingredients is
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always the best option as 70% of the salt in our diet comes ‘hidden’
in processed foods.
We need to base our diet on the four main food groups – these are
essential to achieve a balanced diet:
•
Eat a high proportion of both fruit and vegetables and
starchy/cereal foods i.e. the large sections on the plate model.
Choose those without added fat or sugar
•
Eat moderate amounts of meat, fish, diary foods and
alternatives. Choose lower fat alternatives
•
Consume fatty/sugary foods in limited amounts i.e. very
small section on the plate model. Foods from this group do not
contain essential nutrients
For further help see:
Key Characteristics of Foods within each of the 5 Food Groups
Prompt Sheets
The Eat Well Plate in the Classroom: Foundation Curriculum
Learning Outcomes
Classroom Activities and Parent Evening Suggestions
Key Points:
•
Healthy eating is not “moderation” in all things. We need to
eat more of some food groups than others e.g. we need to
increase our intake of fruit and vegetables to at least 5 portions a
day. For children a portion is represented by a child size handful
of the fruit or vegetables
•
No food is “bad” or “forbidden” but fatty and sugary foods
should only be eaten occasionally and in small amounts or they
will displace more nourishing food from the diet e.g. snacking on
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crisps and biscuits will displace fruit from the diet. Sugary foods
should be limited to mealtimes to prevent damage to teeth
Foods that do not fit into one food group:
Some foods do not fit into one of the five groups and these include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Alcohol – excluded from the National Food Guide
Pickles, sauces, tea etc. – excluded from the Guide
Sugar-free drinks – contain no sugar/nutritional value
Composite dishes containing foods from more than one group
e.g.
Pizza – bread/vegetables/dairy and meat groups
Milk puddings e.g. rice/semolina – diary/bread groups
Burger in a bun – meat/bread and vegetable groups
Shepherds pie – meat/bread and vegetable groups
Sandwiches – bread, fatty, dairy (cheese)/meat (meat,
fish, egg etc.) groups
Composite dishes are widespread and a common component of the
diet and therefore should be discussed and examples included.
Single foods are often combined to make composite dishes or meals
e.g. meat, potato and vegetables, therefore encouraging a ‘balance’
of foods to be consumed.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why use a model based on food groups and not nutrients?
People choose foods not nutrients. If appropriate, it may be helpful
to explain the main nutrients in each food group and their function in
the body e.g. milk and dairy foods are rich in calcium and good for
strong bones and teeth.
See: Key Characteristics of Foods within each of the 5 Food
Groups Prompt Sheets
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However, food based education that includes tasting, cooking and
growing is the most effective for increasing variety in the diet and
balanced eating.
See: The Eat Well Plate in the Classroom: Foundation
Curriculum Learning Outcomes
Why are potatoes not in the vegetable group?
Potatoes contain more starch than other vegetables and form the
starchy staple part of the meal. They are therefore classified in the
starchy group with bread and other cereals.
What is wrong with labelling foods as ‘good’ and ‘bad’?
No food should be labelled as ‘bad’. Fatty and sugary foods,
although not encouraged, can be included in small amounts as part
of a healthy balanced diet. The terms ‘less healthy’ (eat less of) and
‘more healthy’ (eat more of) may be more appropriate when
explaining a balanced diet.
What are non-milk extrinsic sugars (NME sugars)?
In the past, sugars were often referred to as ‘added sugars’ and
‘natural sugars’ – terms which many people found confusing. The
Government’s advisory panel COMA (Committee on Medical
Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy) defined different sugars in the
diet more precisely depending on their effects on health. Non-milk
extrinsic sugars (NME sugars) are those that have been extracted
from a root, stem or fruit of a plant and are no longer incorporated
into the cellular structure of food. NME sugars therefore include
table sugar, sugar added to recipes, and sugars found in soft drinks
and fruit juices. Honey is also included in this group.
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It is accepted that dental decay is directly related to the frequency
and amount of NME sugar consumption 1. To reduce the risk of
decay, it is important to reduce the amount of time that teeth are
exposed to foods high in non-milk extrinsic sugars. This includes
foods such as sweets, biscuits, cakes and sugary cereals as well as
soft drinks. Fresh fruit is a good choice as a snack, but fruit juice
and dried fruit do contain significant amounts of non-milk extrinsic
sugars so they should be consumed with meals rather than between
meals 2.
The other concern is that foods high in NME sugars often provide
calories but few other nutrients. Children need a relatively nutrientdense diet. If a large proportion of the foods and drinks they
consume are high in NME sugars, it may be difficult for under-5s to
obtain all the nutrients they need each day.
1 Hinds K, Gregory J. (1995) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Children Aged 1½ to 4½
Years. Volume 2. Report of the Dental Survey. London: HMSO
2 Moynihan, P. (2003) Fruit juice and dried fruit – healthy choices or not? Letter in the British
Dental Journal; 194: 408
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