Australian Dietary Guidelines
Many families rely on school canteens to regularly contribute to their children’s food intake. It is important therefore that canteen menus are able to make a positive health contribution to children’s diets.
The Australian Dietary Guidelines give advice on eating for health and wellbeing; they include:
- Guideline 1 To achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of nutritious food and drinks to meet your energy needs
- Guideline 2 Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from the five food groups every day
- Guideline 3 Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol
- Guideline 4 Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding
- Guideline 5 Care for your food; prepare and store it safely.
The key to eating a balanced diet is to eat a variety of foods from each of the five food groups every day. These are:
- Vegetables and legumes/beans
- Fruit
- Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high fibre cereal varieties
- Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans
- Milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives mostly reduced fats
More information can be found on the Eat for Health website.