Healthy eating habits/Healthy eating for 12-13 year old female adolescents

The best way to healthy eating is by choosing a range of different foods from the five food groups every day. You may have seen the food groups on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating poster. The foods are grouped together that have similar nutrients, so eating a variety of foods means your body will receive all the different nutrients it needs to be healthy. The Australian Dietary Guidelines tells us the amount of each food group we should have depending on age, sex and activity level. This is because our body needs different amounts of each food group at different times in our life as a male or female and if we exercise more.

Daily Recommendations:

5 Serves of Vegetables and Legumes/Beans

Why eat vegetables?

Vegetables are low in energy, high in fibre for a healthy digestive system and full of nutrients that help our body to function well. Eating many different colourful vegetables means you will get a variety of nutrients.

What is 1 serve?

½ cup cooked green or orange vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrot, pumpkin)

½ cup beans, peas, lentils (cooked, dried or canned with no added salt)

1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables

½ cup corn

½ medium potato, sweet potato, taro, cassava

1 tomato (medium-size)

2 Serves of Fruit

Why eat fruit?

Fruits are high in fibre and water and most are low in energy so they will keep you fuller for longer. Eating whole fruit rather than dried fruit or fruit juice is better for your teeth and your body as you will not miss out on any of the goodness.

What is 1 serve?

1 medium apple, banana, orange, pear

2 small apricots, kiwi fruits, plums

1 cup diced/canned fruit (with no added sugar)

Eat occasionally:

125ml/ ½ cup fruit juice (with no added sugar)

30g dried fruit (eg. 4 dried apricot halves, 1 ½ tablespoons sultanas)

5 Serves of Grain/Cereal Foods

Why eat grains?

Grain foods contain carbohydrates for energy, protein which makes up our muscles and skin, fibre, and many nutrients for a healthy body.

What is 1 serve?

1 slice of bread (40g)

½ medium bread roll/flat bread (40g)

½ cup (75-120g) cooked rice, pasta, noodles, barley, buckwheat, semolina, polenta, bulgur, quinoa

½ cup (120g) cooked porridge

⅔ (30g) wheat cereal flakes

¼ cup (30g) muesli

3 (35g) crispbreads

1 (60g) crumpet

1 small (35g) English muffin or scone

2 ½ Serves of Lean Meats, Poultry, Fish, Eggs, Tofu, Nuts, Seeds and Legumes/Beans

Why eat meats and alternatives?

Meats and alternatives are a great source of protein and many nutrients like iron which is important for women who are menstruating and athletes.

What is 1 serve?

65g cooked lean meats (beef, lamb, veal, pork, goat, kangaroo from 90-100g raw) [Less than 455g per week to reduce risk of getting some types of cancer]

80g cooked lean poultry (chicken or turkey from 100g raw)

100g cooked fish fillet (from 115g raw) or one small can of fish

2 large (120g eggs)

1 cup (150g) cooked/canned legumes/beans (eg. lentils, chick peas or split peas with no added salt)

170g tofu

30g nuts, seeds, nut/seed paste eg. peanut or almond butter or tahini (no added salt)

3 ½ Serves of Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese and/or Alternatives

Why eat milk and alternatives?

This food group is high in protein and full of nutrients such as calcium for healthy growing bones. Mostly reduced fat is best.

What is 1 serve?

1 cup (250ml) fresh, UHT long life, reconstituted powdered milk or buttermilk

½ cup (120ml) evaporated milk

2 slices/ 4x3x2cm cube (40g) hard cheese eg. cheddar

½ cup (120g) ricotta cheese

¾ cup (200g) yoghurt

1 cup (250ml) soy, rice or other cereal drink with at least 100mg of added calcium per 100ml

What about all the other foods?

You will notice a lot of foods that we eat are not part of the five food groups, like chocolate, jam, sausages, and hot potato chips. This is because they are part of a different category called discretionary choices. These foods are often high in fat, sugar, salt or alcohol and low in fibre and the body does not need these foods to be healthy. They can be considered “extra foods” and girls aged 12-13 years are recommended 0-2.5 serves per day. This can be tricky when the serve sizes can be quite small, like ½ a chocolate bar, one tablespoon of jam, two thin sausages and 12 hot potato chips.

What about nuts?

Girls 12-13 years old are also allowed 1 ½ serves of unsaturated spreads or oils and nuts or seeds as part of a daily healthy diet on top of the five food group serves. Although they are high in fat so you might think they could be part of the discretionary choices, the fats from nuts and seeds are better for the body. This includes oils like olive oil or margarine, and nuts and seeds like peanut butter, almonds and pumpkin seeds. One serve is about ten almonds and 7g of oil and 10g of peanut butter (around two teaspoons). Like the discretionary choices, the serving sizes are small because these foods are high in energy so it's easy to eat more than you need.

What if I am tall or very active?

Adolescents who are taller or more active will also have greater energy needs and are allowed extra serves from the five food groups or discretionary choices.

For further information and activities see www.eatforhealth.gov.au

References

1. National Health and Medical Research Council. (n.d.). The five food groups. Retrieved from http://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups
2. Brown, J. E., Isaacs, J. S., Krinke, B., Lechtenberg, E., Murtaugh, M. A., Sharbaugh, C., Splett, P. L., Stang, J., & Woolridge, N. H. (2011). (2011). Nutrition through the life cycle (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
3. Wahlqvist, M. L. (Ed.). (2011). Food and nutrition. Food and health systems in Australia and New Zealand (3rd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.