Healthy childhood
Healthy eating is important for everyone, and helping children make good choices at a young age can lead to healthy habits for life. Poor nutrition can increase their risks of developing other health conditions including diabetes, heart and liver diseases. We're here to help you eat healthier, and strongly recommend a family approach is taken to diet and lifestyle changes, as children will tend to copy their families' actions. When trying to become a healthier family, it's also important to consider physical activity, sleep and hydration, in addition to healthy eating.
- Stick to a routine with meals and snacks so children know when to expect food, and eat in the same place if possible so they feel comfortable.
- Eat together as a family at mealtimes to make them more enjoyable for children and eating the same meals shows them that you enjoy eating healthy meals too.
- Encourage children to feed themselves, it might be messier but they will feel more in control and will develop fine motor skills.
- Children's main drink should be water. Use an open cup where possible. Milk, fruit juice, and squash (no added sugar) can be offered in small amounts. Avoid sugary or fizzy drinks.
- Give children familiar foods alongside new foods to try.
- New foods should be tried several times as studies show children may need to try a food more than 10 times before they accept it.
- Offer children smaller portions and more if they are still hungry. Avoid negative comments or behaviours when they choose not to eat all of their food. This helps children to learn to listen to their bodies.
- Avoid using food as a reward for good behaviour.
- Try not to worry about your child's eating, every child is different and their eating habits will change as they grow.
- The HENRY practitioners run an 8 week course (one session a week) for both 0-5 year old's and 6-12 year old's, covering: parenting confidence, physical activity, what children and families eat, family lifestyle habits and enjoying life as a family. Find out more in these leaflets for 0-5 years and 6-12 years. If you feel this would be helpful, the HENRY team can be contacted via email: hdft.
henrypractitioners to discuss further or to book your place.@nhs.net
Food groups
The Eatwell Guide can be used to help families understand what a healthy diet can look like. It shows the different food groups and how much of each should be eaten. Remember, children of different ages will require different amounts of each food group.
Eatwell Guide
Fruits and vegetables should make up around a third of what we eat because they're filled with a range of vitamins and minerals which keep our bodies healthy, and have lots of fibre which keeps us feeling full. It's important to eat a variety of different fruits and vegetables, aiming for at least five different portions of fruits and vegetables every day. Remember that fruit juice and smoothies should be limited to no more than a combined total of 150ml a day.
Starchy carbohydrates should also make up around a third of what we eat because they're our main source of energy. It's usually best to choose wholegrain versions like brown bread, as these contain more vitamins, minerals and fibre. The fibre in wholegrains helps our bodies release the energy from these foods slowly, keeping you feeling full. However in young children this fibre can fill up their tummies too quickly so it's a good idea to give a mixture of white and wholegrain varieties to children under 5.
Protein-rich foods should be eaten every day as they're important for helping us grow. Protein is used in the body for growth and maintenance of our cells, like in our muscles and skin. Protein can come from both plant and animal foods, and it's good to eat plant-proteins (legumes, tofu, Quorn) because they are low in fat, more sustainable and often cheaper.
Milk and dairy foods are important for our bodies as they contain protein and important vitamins and minerals, like Calcium and B-vitamins. If choosing milk-free alternatives look for products fortified with these key vitamins and minerals. The amount of dairy foods the body needs changes as we grow.
Oils and spreads provide our bodies with fats and help us absorb fat-soluble vitamins. It's usually best to choose unsaturated fats (e.g. vegetable and olive oil). Oils and spreads are very high in energy (calories) so it's important to make sure we only consume a small amount.
These foods are not needed within our diets so they are shown separately on the Eatwell Guide. It's important to eat these foods less often, and only in small amounts. Using the traffic light labels on foods should help you identify foods high in fat, salt and sugar. Try to choose foods with mainly green labels, and less red labels, and remember the labels are based on an adult's diet and children can tolerate less fat, salt and sugar than adult's. More information on reading food labels. NHS Healthier Families have suggestions of healthier food swaps.
