Infants, children and teenagers have special food needs because they are growing and developing. They also need extra energy for playing and being more active.
your child’s lunchbox at childcare and kindergarten, like meals and snacks at home, should continue to reflect the dietary guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and not include discretionary foods and drinks. Discretionary foods are higher in saturated fats, added salt, and added sugars and lower in fibre and should be kept for special occasions. The Guide includes a picture that can be useful for explaining to children that some foods are ‘everyday’ foods and other foods are ‘party foods’ or for special occasions. Understanding how all foods fit into healthy eating can be more useful than labelling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
While it is important not to add fats, sugars and/or salt to food for babies and young children, low fat diets are not appropriate for young children, particularly those under two years, because they are growing so fast. Full fat milks, yoghurts and cheeses should be used for children until they are two years old. At Buttercups we have a selection of recipes you might like to consider…
