The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
Fruit and vegetables are a great source of important vitamins, fibre and minerals that your body needs to work at its best. They are low in sugar, salt and fat and recent research has shown that they can help protect against diseases.
The Australian Government has produced a document called The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating which provides information about the amounts and kinds of food that we all need to eat to keep healthy. The guide divides food into groups: breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, vegetables, legumes, fruit, milk, yoghurt & cheese, meat, fish, poultry eggs, nuts, legumes. The guide recommends we eat a variety of food to ensure we receive enough nutrients. Below are the recommendations for primary school aged children.
- Children should eat at least 2 serves of fruit every day
What is a serve of fruit?
1 piece of medium sized fruit e.g.: apple, pear, orange,
2 pieces of small sized fruit e.g.: apricots, plums, kiwi fruit
1 cup of canned or chopped food
4 dried apricot halves
1 ½ tablespoons of sultanas
- Children aged 4-7 should eat 2 serves of vegetables every day
- Children aged 8-11 should eat at least 3 serves of vegetables every day
What is a serve of vegetables?
1 cup of salad vegetables
75g or (½ cup) of cooked vegetables 
75g or (½ cup) of cooked dried beans, peas or lentils
1 medium potato
Dairy products contain 10 essential nutrients important for health, growth and development. One important nutrient is calcium, which is needed for strong bones and teeth. Find out more about eating 3 serves a day at Dairy Australia.
- Children should eat at least 2 serves of reduced fat milk, yoghurt and cheese every day
What is a serve of milk, yoghurt or cheese?
250 ml glass or one cup of milk
40g (2 slices) of cheese
250ml (1 cup) of custard
200g (1 small carton) of yoghurt, plain or fruit
Note: Children over the age of 2 should eat reduced fat milk and milk products.
Children should eat a variety of bread, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles
Foods in this group come from grains like wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley and corn. These grains can be eaten whole, made into breakfast cereals or ground into flour to make grain foods like bread, pasta and noodles. This food group is rich in the B vitamins folate, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. It also provides carbohydrates and fibre – wholemeal varieties are richer in fibre than refined varieties.
- Children aged 4-7 should eat 5-7 serves of grains
- Children aged 8-11 should eat 6-9 serves of grains
What is a serve of grains?
2 slices of bread
1 medium bread roll
1 cup of cooked rice, pasta or noodles
1 cup of porridge
1 1/3 cup of breakfast cereal flakes
½ cup muesli
- Children aged 4-7 should eat half a serve of meat, fish, poultry or alternatives
- Children 8-11 should eat 1 serve a day of meat, fish, poultry or alternatives
This group is made up of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and nut pastes, legumes and seeds such as sunflower and sesame. This food is rich in protein, niacin and vitamin B12 and a particularly good source of the minerals iron and zinc.
What is a serve?
1/3 cup peanuts/almonds
65-100gm cooked meat/chicken (e.g. ½ cup mince/2 small chops/2 slices roast meat)
80-120g cooked fish fillet, or, as an alternative try: 2 small eggs 1/3 cup cooked dried beans, lentils, chick peas, split peas or canned beans
Extra food
Foods that don’t fit into the above five food groups are not essential to the body’s needs. These ‘extra’ foods can contribute to extra weight gain and are not required everyday.
- Children should limit this group to once or twice a day
Extra foods include:
1 medium piece of plain cake
3-4 sweet biscuits
half a chocolate bar
30g of potato crisps
1 can soft drink or 2 glasses cordial
2 scoops of ice cream
The above recommendations are taken from Food for Health, Dietary Guidelines for All Australians, Department of Health and Ageing/National Health and Medical Research Council.
Colour your plate and palate!
It is important that children eat a range of different fruit and vegetables that contain different nutrients. When buying fruit and vegetables, look for a variety of colour, such as, white, yellow, purple, green and red produce to ensure a range of nutrients.
For more information about The Australian Guide To Healthy Eating:
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
- Dietry Guidelines for all Australians
- Department of Health and Ageing - Nutrition Publications
Note: Guidelines are recommendations only and factors such as body size and activity levels may have an impact.
