Healthy Eating For 6 - 12 Year Olds

Healthy eating for 6 – 12 year olds
This dietary advice sheet gives some general information to help you make the
recommended changes to your child’s diet. If you need more detailed advice, or if
your child is following a special diet that makes it difficult to make these changes,
please ask your doctor to refer your child to a registered dietitian.
Children require regular meals and snacks to give them the

energy and nutrients they need to grow and fight off illness.
Eating family meals together will encourage them to enjoy a
variety of foods. Snacking all day in place of meals, usually
results in eating an unbalanced diet. To encourage good eating
habits try to sit down and eat meals as a family without the
distractions of the television or computer games.
Breakfast is essential every day as it gives children energy for busy mornings at
school.
What does a balanced diet mean?

1. Fruit and vegetables: Fruit and vegetables provide lots of vitamins and
minerals which are important for fighting off illnesses; they also contain fibre
which helps to maintain regular bowel movements and prevent constipation.
Fruit and vegetables can be included as part of a meal, chopped up and as a
snack or as fruit juice or smoothies. Children should aim for at least 5 portions of
fruit and vegetables every day. Fruit and vegetables can also help to keep our
skin supple and prevent spots!
A portion is equal to:

• 1 medium sized banana, apple, orange, peach
• 2 small fruits e.g. plums, apricots, satsumas
• handful of grapes, cherries, strawberries
• 3 tablespoons of cooked vegetables or fruit
• small salad
Source: Paediatrics
Reference No: 6296-2
Issue date: 09/06/2022
Review date: 09/06/2025
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2. Cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta: These are all carbohydrate foods which
give children slow release energy. Try and choose the low sugar varieties of
breakfast cereals such as Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, Ready Brek or
Shreddies® and add dried fruit rather than sugar. Choose unrefined higher fibre
types of bread and pasta such as wholemeal and granary bread, whole wheat
pasta and brown rice. Children should aim to have a carbohydrate source at
each meal time plus sometimes as snacks in between meals too.
3. Meat, fish and alternatives: These are all protein foods which are important for
helping children to grow and repair muscles. Try and include a variety of
different protein containing foods such as lean meats, fish, baked beans, eggs,
pulses, peas and lentils. Children should aim to have protein at least twice a
day.
4. Milk and dairy foods: These are all calcium containing foods and are important
in a child’s diet to support bone and teeth development. Children over 5 years
old should be offered either semi skimmed or skimmed milk, and should aim to
have dairy foods three times a day. Soya products which are calcium enriched
are suitable alternatives for those who cannot tolerate or do not wish to eat dairy
products.
5. Foods containing fat and sugar: Fat is an important part of a child’s diet to
enable growth and development, and provide them with their fat soluble
vitamins. Children should ideally be offered healthy fats such as those from
vegetable sources e.g. sunflower oil, rapeseed oils and spreads, and not large
quantities of fats from pastries, crisps and manufactured products. Sugar does
not give us any vitamins or minerals only calories which can lead to excess
weight gain if eaten regularly. Sugar can also cause tooth decay. Try and
include low sugar puddings, snacks and drinks e.g. sugar free jelly and sugar
free squash.
6. Drinks: The ideal drinks which should be offered to children are

water and milk. A 200ml serving of pure fruit juice would count as
one portion of fruit per day. Fruit flavoured squashes should be
kept to a minimum and ideally sugar free. Excessive squash
intake can sometimes be associated with loose bowels
movements.
Example of a day’s menu

Breakfast: Breakfast cereal with milk, glass fruit juice or 2 slices toast with spread
Mid-morning snack: Portion fruit / chopped fruit salad pieces
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Lunch: Wholemeal bread sandwich with ham and salad, yogurt, fruit,
Mid-afternoon snack: Piece of malt loaf or crumpet
Evening meal: Family meal e.g. spaghetti bolognaise or roast dinner, with sugar
free jelly or low sugar custard and fruit
Bedtime snack: Plain biscuit and glass of milk or water
Don’t forget exercise….
Children should be doing at least 60 minutes of exercise

every day. Including it into everyday living activities such as
walking to school or the shop, walking the dog and playing
in the garden tend to be easier to stick to compared to going
to an event or leisure centre as they don’t take much
organising and are free!
Reproduced with permission from Norfolk and Norwich NHS Foundation Trust
Useful links
www.nutrition.org.uk/life-stages/children/#healthydiet
www.cwt.org.uk – Check publications for recipe ideas and portion sizes
If you would like any information regarding access to the West Suffolk Hospital and
its facilities please visit the website for AccessAble (formerly DisabledGo)
https://www.accessable.co.uk
© West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
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Healthy Eating For 6 - 12 Year Olds

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Healthy Eating For 6 - 12 Year Olds

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Healthy eating for 6 – 12 year olds

Children require regular meals and snacks to give them the

What does a balanced diet mean?

A portion is equal to:

6. Drinks: The ideal drinks which should be offered to children are

Example of a day’s menu

Don’t forget exercise….

Children should be doing at least 60 minutes of exercise

www.cwt.org.uk – Check publications for recipe ideas and portion sizes

© West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

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