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20 1.2 Principles of a Balanced Nutritious Diet for Children over 1 Year
Saturated Fat food, thus ensuring fairly even blood sugar levels
throughout the day. When meals contain two
Milk, cheese, yogurt, meat and eggs contain a courses of different foods they provide a wider
mixture of fats, including saturated fat, but these range of foods and nutrients. The second course
foods should not be cut out of a children’s diets as can be something simple like yogurt and fruit or it
they are very nutritious foods. By limiting the may be a nutritious pudding. Including a sweet
foods high in fat in food group 5 to small second course after the savoury course makes the
quantities, the saturated fat content of children’s meal more of an occasion and more enjoyable for
food will be around 11 per cent total energy children. As discussed above, it can be included
as recommended in Chapter 1.1. The foods to within the recommendations on limiting sugar
reduce are: intake.
●● crisps and similar packet snacks Examples of nutritious puddings are those that
●● fried foods and pastry contain one of more of the following ingredients:
●● commercially prepared cakes and biscuits with milk, flour, eggs, fruit, dried fruit, ground or
chopped nuts. For example:
a long shelflife.
●● yogurt with fruit
Colours and Preservatives in Food
and Drinks ●● fruit crumble with custard
The Food Standards Agency currently advises ●● fruit pie with custard
that the following colours should be avoided as
research indicates they may affect children’s ●● other fruit-based puddings such as apple
behaviour: Charlotte or summer pudding
●● Tartrazine E102 ●● bread and butter pudding with dried fruit
●● Ponceau 4R E124
●● Sunset yellow E110 ●● rice pudding served with fruit
●● Carmosine E122
●● Quinoline yellow E104 ●● quick mixed milk puddings, such as Angel
●● Allura red AC E129. Delight, served with some fruit slices
They also recommend avoidance of the preservative ●● Bakewell tart served with fruit slices
sodium benzoate E211.
●● sponge cake with custard
Most manufacturers are working towards
removing these substances from foods and replacing ●● unsweetened tinned fruit with evaporated milk
artificial colourings with natural food dyes. or ice cream
Meals and Snack Routines ●● jelly with fruit pieces
A planned routine of 3 meals and 2–3 nutritious ●● fruit sponge cakes, such as apple sponge cake
planned snacks ensures children are not going for
long periods of time without an energy boost from ●● egg custard with fruit slices
●● fruit salad with cream
●● fresh fruit, such as strawberries, with cream
●● fresh fruit with a biscuit or piece of cake or
chocolate buttons.
Snacks
Children, particularly young children, may not be
able to eat enough in just three meals to satisfy
