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We are always being told ‘you are what you eat’, ‘don’t eat too much salt’. ‘cut down on the amount of fat you eat’, ‘eat more fruit and veg’.
But what does it all mean?
What should we be eating to stay healthy?
Breast milk is the most natural food you can give a baby. It contains all the vital nutrients and passes on antibodies to your child. Remember mum needs looking after as well, a good diet and plenty of water is essential.
However, if mum is finding it uncomfortable or wants to wean the baby onto the bottle, there are some very good formula milk available. Formula milk is harder for the baby to digest than breast milk and it stays in a babies stomach longer. It also contains slightly more protein so babies tend to go longer between feeds.
The composition and labelling of these feeds are strictly controlled by legislation. Baby milks are probably the most regulated food product in the world and the companies that produce them are some of the largest and most innovative in the food industry.
Weaning is necessary because after the age of four months all of the infant’s nutritional requirements cannot be met by milk alone. Because of the allerginicity of some foods weaning is usually started with rice cereals and gradually progressed on to mixed family meals at the age of about one year.
Highly salted foods should be avoided for health reasons as well as to avoid the child developing too great a liking for these foods. Homemade or manufactured baby foods is a matter of personal preference.
Stronger tastes should be gradually introduced as should more challenging textures.
From the age of 1, solid foods will replace much of the milk in their diet. The child's energy requirements will increase rapidly as they are growing quickly and are more active.
Therefore, foods high in energy (and rich in nutrients) should be eaten as part of small and frequent meals.
Remember that at this age, the young child's stomach is not large enough to cope with big meals and their kidneys can’t cope with excess salt.
Proteins, calcium, iron and vitamins A & D are essential as childhood is an important time for tooth and bone development.
If you are feeding your child a vegetarian diet then you must ensure that the iron otherwise eaten through products such as red meat and liver is replaced by alternatives such as breakfast cereals and bread.
It may be interesting to note that vitamin C aids iron absorption.
Children from the age of 5 years begin to take more responsibility for their own food and therefore need to understand the importance and need for a healthy diet.
This age group are still growing and are active so the energy intake needs to be fairly high BUT many are thought to be between 5% and 15% overweight. The answer is not to put the child on a diet but to aim to keep them a constant weight whilst they are still growing in height.
Ideally meals should be based on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. A moderate amount of milk and dairy foods should be eaten but the choice should be low fat when possible. Protein is still important at this age so moderate amounts of protein rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs, beans and lentils should be eaten.
They shouldn’t eat too many fatty or sugary foods. These are high in calories but contain few nutrients and can reduce the appetite for healthier foods.
| Age (years) | Boys | Girls |
| 7-10 | 1970 kcal | 1740 kcal |
| 11-14 | 2220 kcal | 1845 kcal |
| 15-18 | 2755 kcal | 2110 kcal |
Major growth spurts may be noticed in boys from about 10 years of age and in girls from age 12.
Because growth and development is rapid, the demand for energy and most nutrients are high.
Ideally meals should be based on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. A moderate amount of milk and dairy foods should be eaten but the choice should be low fat when possible. Protein is still important at this age so moderate amounts of protein rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs, beans and lentils should be eaten.
They shouldn’t eat too many fatty or sugary foods. These are high in calories but contain few nutrients and can reduce the appetite for healthier foods.
Encouraging a healthy lifestyle is very important as it is far better to prevent diseases such as obesity than dieting.
A couple of points to note are that after menstruation starts, girls need more iron than boys. (NB vitamin C aids iron absorption). Also the rapid increase in bone mass means they require more calcium than adults. It is recommended that boys intake 1000mg per day, and girls 800mg. Foods rich in calcium are those such as milk and cheese. It may be interesting to note that vitamin D aids absorption of calcium. The body makes its own vitamin D by exposure to sunshine, and it is also present in fortified cereals and fish oils.
Adults should aim for a body weight within a desirable range for their height. This is known as the Body Mass Index. This can be determined if you know your weight and your height.
Frame sizes vary and it is difficult for any simple measurement to establish a person's frame. It is more accurate to recommend a weight range, rather than a specific weight for a given height.
The calculation would then be:
1.6 x 1.6 = 2.56.
BMI would be 65 divided by 2.56 = 25.39.
i.e. The BMI = weight (kg) divided by height (m2)
The ideal range for an adult is between 20 and 24.9.
Note: A BMI greater than 25 is not always to do with too much fat as BMI does not differentiate between muscle and fat so an athlete may be muscular, with little body fat, yet they may weigh more. The BMI scale is also not suitable for children as results change with age or pregnant women.
Eatwell
The Eatwell plate shows the proportion and types of foods that are needed in a day to make up a healthy balanced diet.
The Eatwell plate has been produced by the Food Standards Agency as a guide that aims to help people to understand and enjoy healthy eating.
Some people think they cannot eat healthily because they would not like a food, while others classify foods as good or bad. The guide shows that people do not have to give up the foods they enjoy and that all foods can be part of a healthy diet. It is achieving the right balance and variety of foods that is important for health.
The guide is divided into five food groups: bread, other cereals and potatoes; fruit and vegetables; milk and dairy foods; meat, fish and alternatives; foods containing fat and foods containing sugar. Foods from the largest groups should be eaten most often and foods from the smallest group should be eaten least often.
Eatwell is based on the Government’s Eight Guidelines for a Healthy Diet, which are:
Salt
This has not been included in the balance of good health but is just as important to understand.
Salt is sodium and high levels of this in the diet can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
When reading a food label, the amount of sodium (milligrams) given in the nutrition information can be converted into salt (grams) by dividing the figure given by 100 and multiplying it by 2.5.
It’s easy to say don’t add salt to your diet at the table or whilst cooking, but approximately three quarters of it comes from processed everyday foods such as bread, breakfast cereals and soups.
The Food Standards Agency has been looking in to this, click on the following link for further information. www.food.gov.uk
Look at the table below to check the maximum amount of salt that should be present in your diet.
| Age | Max amount salt (g) |
| Less than 12 months | 1g |
| 1 - 3 years | 2g |
| 4 - 6 years | 3g |
| 7 - 10 years | 5g |
| 10years + | 6g |
Take a look at this "diet through life" poster from the British Nutrition Foundation as a summary of what you should be eating and when.
What to eat and when during life
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/?a=206912
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