30
26
Healthy eating means eating a wide variety of nutritious foods from all of the food
groups. These foods contain lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Eating a wide variety
of foods from all food groups will help you grow.
Some foods contain too much sugar or fat and not many vitamins or minerals. These
are foods we should only eat sometimes.
The foods you eat have been divided into three groups according to how nutritious
they are. These make up what is often called the ‘food pyramid’ or the healthy eating
‘plate’. You can use these groups to help you decide which foods to eat more of and
which to eat less often.
You should try to eat lots of:
vegetables
fruits
Sweet potatoes, yams, butternut squash
Good fats such as coconut oil, olive oil and avocado.
You can see that these are all foods that come from plants . These foods all contain
vitamins, minerals and fibre. Try to eat a wide variety of these foods. Try not to
choose just one of these foods (such as fruit) to eat all the time. Eating plenty of all
foods from this group will help you stay healthy.
Plant foods contain thousands of nutrients (small parts), which can help to prevent serious diseases. This is why it is important to eat a variety of different types of these
foods.
These foods are important for health, so you should eat them in medium amounts.
They include:
dairy products such as eggs and cheeses
lean meats and fish
nuts
seeds
coconut milk
These foods are all good sources of protein. Protein helps build strong muscles and
can repair our body when we hurt or injure ourselves. Some of these foods also contain some important minerals, such as the calcium found in dairy foods (for strong
bones) and the iron found in lean meats (to give us energy)
These foods don’t give us very many nutrients and are really just ‘extras’. They may
contain lots of sugar or fat (or both), but often don’t have many vitamins, minerals or
fibre. It’s okay to have these ‘sometimes foods’ if you are healthy, active and not overweight. Most of the time, they are better left for occasions like birthday parties. They
include:
Sweet biscuits, chocolate coated bars, potato chips. ice cream ,popsicles and chocolate, cake or a muffin.