School › Food and nutrients › Ages 6–7
Food for a healthy body
Food gives you energy to play and helps you grow. Find out about the different food groups, why fruit and vegetables matter and why sugar is hard on your teeth. Then build a balanced plate.
Read
Food gives your body energy to move, play and grow. Eating lots of different foods helps you stay healthy.[1][6]
Fruit and vegetables are full of vitamins and fibre. Try to eat at least 5 portions every day. Fresh, frozen, tinned and dried ones all count![1][2]
Starchy foods like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes give you energy. Brown or wholegrain bread has more fibre, which helps your tummy digest food.[1][4]
Beans, eggs, fish and meat are protein foods. Your body uses protein to grow and to repair itself.[1][6]
Milk, yoghurt and cheese have calcium, which helps make strong bones.[1][7]
Sweets, cakes and fizzy drinks are 'now and then' foods. Sugar is one of the main causes of holes in teeth. Water and milk are great drinks.[1][3]
Try it: Build a balanced plate
You need
- A big paper plate for each group
- Pictures of foods cut from magazines or leaflets, or empty food packets
- Glue sticks
- Coloured pencils
Safety
Use pictures and empty, clean packets only: no tasting, because some children have food allergies. Everyone eats different foods at home, and that is fine: be kind about other people's food.
What to do
- Draw lines on your plate to make sections: a big one for fruit and vegetables, a big one for starchy foods, a smaller one for protein foods and a small one for milk and cheese.
- Look at each food picture. Which group does it belong to?
- Stick it in the right section of the plate.
- Put sweets, cakes and fizzy drinks to the side of the plate: they are 'now and then' foods.
- Compare your plate with another group. Which sections are the biggest?
What happens, and why?
The healthy-eating plate has big sections for fruit and vegetables and for starchy foods, a smaller section for protein foods, a small one for milk and cheese, and only a little oil. Sweets, cakes and sugary drinks are kept outside the plate because we only need them now and then, in small amounts.[1]
Play: Which food group?
Look at the food. Which group does it belong to on the healthy-eating plate? Tap the right group.
Your best score is kept only on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Quiz
Other ages: Ages 10–11 · Ages 15–16