What is a child-sized portion?
What is a child-sized portion?
There is some confusion about the relative energy and nutrient needs of adults and children in the UK.
Whilst energy needs are often greatest in adults because they are taller and heavier and need energy for
their basal metabolic rate and for activity, children and young people have an additional need for
growth. This means that they have relatively higher energy needs for their size compared to adults.
A simple way of looking at how children’s portion sizes may relate to standard ones designed for adults
is to look at average energy requirements by age. These are produced in the UK by The Scientific
Advisory Group on Nutrition1 and describe the average amounts of energy that will maintain weight and
growth in a population. There are gender differences in energy requirements (males generally have
greater muscle mass and body weight), but for simplicity here we are giving averages for age groups of
mixed gender.
A main course meal for an adult (or child over 14 years, the age when average energy requirements are
the same as for average adults) could be expected to provide about 20% of the estimated average
energy intake for a day. For an adult/older teen this can be estimated at about 500kcal.
We can calculate approximate child sized portions for a main course relative to this:
Children (average boys and girls)
Approximate proportion of adult/older teen main course
1-4 years
200kcal
40%
5-7 years
300kcal
60%
8-10 years
360kcal
75%
11-13 years
400kcal
80%
Although energy provides a starting point for considering child-sized portions there are some
components of a meal which can be served in similar quantities to almost everyone to promote good
health. For example, we would recommend that vegetable and fruit portions for children are the same
as for adults for all those over 5 years, and about half an adult portion for those under 5.
Obviously some meals for adults will provide more than 500kcal and may contain amounts of some
nutrients that are inappropriate for other groups (e.g. amounts of salt) but it is useful to have an outline
of how the energy needs of adults and children may compare for those who are considering offering
child-sized portions of meals.
1
SACN (2011) Energy requirements for the UK. Department of Health.
How would this translate into some meal types?
The estimates below are based on work we have recently done for a practical resource for families, and
these amounts refer to average amounts based on these recipes. These are likely to be ‘healthy eating
options’ compared to a lot of standard restaurant food but this gives an outline of how proportions
might compare.
1. Soup and bread
Portion size
Soup
Bread/roll
Salad/vegetables
Adult/teen
400g
90g
80g+
11-13y
350g
75g
80g+
8-10y
300g
55g
80g+
5-7y
250g
50g
80g+
1-4y
160g
40g
40g+
11-13y
200g
120g
80g+
8-10y
190g
115g
80g+
5-7y
150g
90g
80g+
1-4y
100g
60g
40g+
2. Jacket potato and filling
Portion size
Jacket potato
Filling1
Salad/vegetables
Adult/teen
250g
150g
80g+
1
Based on fillings: tuna and sweetcorn, vegetable chilli, Bolognese, Beef stir fry
3. Rice dishes
Portion size
Adult/teen
Rice dish2
400g
Salad/vegetables 80g+
2
11-13y
350g
80g+
8-10y
300g
80g+
5-7y
250g
80g+
1-4y
160g
40g+
Based on turkey and vegetable risotto, jambalaya, egg fried rice, vegetable biryani
4. Pasta and sauce
Portion size
Pasta
Sauce3
Salad/vegetables
3
Adult/teen
240g
240g
80g+
11-13y
190g
190g
80g+
8-10y
180g
180g
80g+
5-7y
140g
140g
80g+
1-4y
100g
100g
40g+
Based on tuna and tomato sauce, vegetable and bean sauce, Bolognese, macaroni cheese
5. Potato topped pies
Portion size
Adult/teen
Potato topped
400g
4
pie
Salad/vegetables 80g+
4
11-13y
350g
8-10y
300g
5-7y
250g
1-4y
150g
80g+
80g+
80g+
40g+
Based on fish pie, vegetarian shepherd’s pie, chicken and mushroom pie, Mediterranean pie
Details of all recipes and portions outlined here will be available in a new resource
Making the Most of Healthy Start: A Practical Guide. Available summer 2013.
See www.firststepsnutrition.org
First Steps Nutrition Trust. June2013.