What is a healthy diet

Although each family’s diet will vary depending on tradition, culture and personal taste there are a few basic guidelines that apply to us all. Children need to eat the right food to stay healthy, not just now but in the future. A nutritious diet will:

- help them to grow

- keep them healthy, fit and looking well

- fend off illness

- give them energy

- help them to concentrate and do better in school.

To provide your child with the nutrients she needs, you should always offer a wide variety of foods. It is obviously easier if you have done this since their earliest age but it is never too late to start introducing more variety into your child’s diet.

good food attitude

If you serve foods from each of the seven food groups (based on the World Health Organisation nutritional recommendations), you stand a greater chance of meeting their daily nutritional requirements. The seven food groups are:

- grains and potatoes

- dairy products

- meat and other protein-rich foods

- fruit

- vegetables

- healthy fats and oils

- fatty and sugary foods.

How much?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. The truth is that what your child needs from her diet changes as she ages. As an infant she needs almost half of her daily calories from fat, but by the time she is at primary school she only needs about one-third from fat and the majority from carbohydrates. If you ensure that none of the food groups are excluded totally from your child’s diet, and you try to roughly follow the ratio of portions from each group as outlined on the following page, you should offer a balanced, nutritious diet.

NEVER GIVE UP

If your child is resistant to new food experiences, the motto is ‘try and try again’, but don’t make a fuss when a new food is rejected. Explain to your child that her tastes are constantly changing as she grows up, and keep re-introducing the foods she rejects once a month, say. It can take up to ten attempts to get her to accept a new food.

Sometimes kids make less fuss when eating at a friend’s house. If you know the parent well, ask her to put a rejected food on the plate and see if it goes down without a fuss when your child is having tea with a friend.

- Grains and potatoes: These include bread, pasta, noodles, cereals, rice, crackers, potatoes, parsnips and yams. Target: 4–6 portions per day.

- Fruit and vegetables: The government’s five-a-day initiative may sound like a lot – and it’s woefully true that only one in five children hits this target – but if your child has an apple and some cucumber chunks in her packed lunch and you serve two vegetables at the evening meal together with a glass of fruit juice, that’s the target met. Not so bad, after all. Target: 5–9 portions per day.

- Dairy products: These include milk, cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais. Target: 2–4 portions per day.

- Meat and other protein-rich foods: Lean meat, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, soya, quorn, tofu, beans, lentils and nuts. Target: 2–4 portions per day.

- Healthy fats and oils: For example, nuts (walnuts, Brazils, cashews, pine nuts, almonds, pecans) and seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin), seed oils (rapeseed and sunflower), nut oils (olive oil) and oily fish* (sardines, mackerel, pilchards). Target: 1–2 portions per day. (*Once or twice a week is enough for children due to high content of essential fats.)

- Fatty and sugary foods: Examples include cakes, biscuits, sweets, fizzy drinks, chocolate, crisps and other snacks. Target: Although official recommendations allow up to one portion per day, it is suggested that you offer this food group only in moderation – once a week is probably a better target.

Rainbow eating

Different coloured fruit and vegetables provide different vitamins, minerals and healthy phytochemicals, so try to get your child to eat a rainbow of different coloured fruit and vegetables throughout the week.

- Red fruit and vegetables are rich in immune-boosting vitamin C. Red peppers contain lutein for healthy eyes; tomatoes and watermelon contain lycopene – an antioxidant that helps protect cells.

- Yellow fruits such as bananas offer zinc and potassium, which help to regulate fluid balance.

- Orange fruit and vegetables are rich in betacarotene, which is a good source of vitamin A and helps boost the immune system and promotes eye and skin health. They also contain carotenoids and bioflavonoids.

- White vegetables such as onions and garlic have natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. They also provide allicins, which boost the immune system.

- Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamins A and C, fibre and nutrients such as calcium and folate. Most green vegetables are also a good source of iron.

- Blue and purple fruits such as blueberries and plums contain anthocyanins, which neutralise harmful free radicals that damage cells.