Guidelines on Children’s Food
Ideally, children should eat regular meals and eat a varied diet.
Eating regular meals.
Including 3 meals and two or three snacks a day, helps to keep the levels of sugar in our blood nice and steady. This helps to give children the energy they need to be physically active, to concentrate, and to regulate their mood. Going too long without food can impair mood, attention and energy levels.
If the diet includes foods that are not too heavily processed, it is likely that blood sugar levels will stay nice and steady for longer. This is partly because minimally processed foods are more likely to still include fibre that slows down digestion. All plant based foods include fibre, but sometimes this is removed or reduced during processing. Fibre also keeps our gut healthy. This, in turn, helps to regulate our mood. This is because the billions of bacteria in our gut have the ability to change the hormones that control our mood, sleep and appetite.
Eating a varied diet.
We need energy from starches, sugars and fats; proteins; vitamins, minerals, fibre, water and essential fatty acids. No single food can provide all of these. The more different kinds of food we eat, the more likely it is that our brain and the rest of our body will be getting all the nourishment it needs.
The Eatwell Guide
A short video on how to safely explain varied eating using the Eatwell Guide.
For more information about specific food types and nutrients, choose from the following resources.
Everyday eating for child health and wellbeing
Children’s Food, behaviour and learning
Assessing and influencing children’s food choices
including more on regular meals and eating a varied diet.