Healthy Eating for Families

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best.

 

A balanced diet means eating a wide variety of foods in the right proportions, and consuming the right amount of food and drink to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

The Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables                                 

Fruit and vegetables are a vital source of vitamins and minerals and should make up just over a third of the food we eat each day.

Starchy Foods

Starchy foods should make up just over one third of everything we eat. They are a great source of fibre and vitamins

                                  

Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins

These foods are all good sources of protein, which is essential for the body to grow and repair itself. They are also good sources of a range of vitamins and minerals.

Milk and dairy

Milk and dairy foods such as cheese and yoghurt are good sources of protein. They also contain calcium, which helps keep your bones healthy.

Sugar

We're having too much sugar

Too much sugar can cause a build-up of harmful fat.  This fat can cause serious disease in the future, like:

• Weight gain
• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• Some cancers

Tooth Decay

Too much sugar can cause tooth decay. 

Tooth decay is avoidable, and you can help keep your teeth healthy by practicing good dental hygiene and reducing your sugar intake. 

Good dental hygiene

Brush teeth twice daily for two minutes each time with fluoride toothpaste. Please see our Dental Health page for further information.

                               

Hidden sugars

Many packaged foods and drinks contain surprisingly high amounts of free sugars. Free sugars are any sugars added to foods or drinks, or found naturally in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices.

Cut down on:

• Sugary fizzy drinks
• Sugary breakfast cereals
• Biscuits
• Alcoholic drinks
• Cakes
• Pastries
• Honey
• Syrups
• Fruit juice nectars

 

  https://www.nhs.uk/sugar-smart/home

 

Click here for top tips for Healthy Eating!

Click here for information on free healthy lifestyle classes for children and their parents across Hertfordshire and here to view the website.

Please click here for some sample menus and recipes for children aged 6 - 9 months.

Please click here for some sample menus and recipes for children aged 10 - 12 months.