Healthy Body
Healthy Eating
(article brought to you by Medibank)
THE IMPORTANCE OF HEALTHY EATING
The Wiggles have shown an ongoing commitment to ensuring that healthy messages about nutrition are provided to young children and their parents and carers. They believe in promoting healthy eating behaviours in young children while recognising that food can be tasty and fun. There are lots of Wiggly songs that focus on eating healthily. Medibank Private and The Wiggles have worked with nutrition experts to ensure that a healthy food message is conveyed to both parents and their children.
Establishing good eating habits early in life can provide the basis for food selection and dietary intake in older children and adolescents, and can decrease the risk of chronic disease in adulthood. Parents and carers play a crucial role in ensuring that children have healthy eating practices. They are the main role models who will influence the food choices of children. Young children have unique nutritional needs that must meet the demands of growth and development as well as daily activity. It is extremely difficult to make up for poor eating habits in childhood at a later stage in life. However, learning to eat a variety of food is also an important part of discovering the world around us. Therefore, a variety of different food should be offered to children on a regular basis. The ideal foods to eat everyday are fruit, vegetables, breads and cereals, small amounts of lean meats and dairy products. Ensure that less nutritious food, such as chips, pies, pastries, deep fried food, soft drink and confectionary, are only eaten sometimes.
The Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/PUBLICATIONS/synopses/n1syn.htm
(National Health and Medical Research Council, 1995 ) are designed to help parents choose foods for their children that will promote healthy growth and development.
The following tips can assist the whole family to eat healthy food:
1. Plan, shop and cook healthy meals together, and avoid turning on the television during meal times.
2. Encourage the whole family to eat breakfast.
3. Get your children involved in preparation and packing of healthy school lunches.
4. Make sure you keep healthy snacks in the pantry.
5. Choose water and milk as drinks most of the time. Avoid sweetened drinks such as cordial, soft drinks and fruit juice.
6. Prepare and store your food safely.
7. Encourage your child to choose healthy foods.
8. Talk about healthy food using positive language.
9. Set a good example as parents.
The nutrition information on this site is a general guide for parents and carers. Please consult with a health professional if there are specific issues related to your child. An Accredited Practising Dietitian can help provide individual advice for parents and carers on a wide range of nutrition-related matters. The Dietitians Association of Australia (link www.daa.asn.au) can help you search for an Accredited Practising Dietitian in your local area.
For more information on healthy eating and nutrition, please visit Wiggle into Health (wiggleintohealth.com). Information provided courtesy of Medibank Private & The Wiggles.