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.

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