A Guide To Our Daily Food Intake-Part 1

The foods we eat belong to one of 4 food groups; all of the food that we consume fall into one or the other of them. The food groups are not of equal importance, there is a most important and a least important. It is vital for healthy eating that one understands their level of importance. This knowledge is key to developing healthy eating habits.

Healthy eating means eating food from all four groups and not eliminating any. This guide will help you work out your daily food intake so that you eat the right amount of food from each group.

These are the groups in order of importance:

• Vegetables & Fruits

• Grain Products

• Milk & Milk alternatives

• Meat & Meat alternatives

Can you identify them in the photo above?

This is a simple guide as to what we need to eat on a daily basis for good nutrition, it covers the food products in each group, number of servings we need and what a serving is. Following this guide will ensure proper nutrition, prevent overeating, and control the intake of food products that are a risk to our health.

Although the serving sizes are the same for all, the number of servings we need on a daily basis is based on age and gender.

Food Group # 1-Vegetables & Fruit

This is the most important food group, there are no restrictions on its use. We cannot get too much of it. These are the food products in this group with their serving sizes:

• 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables or salad

• 1 medium fruit or 1/2 cup frozen or canned

• 1/2 cup cooked leafy vegetables

• 125 ml fruit juice (100%)

• 1/2 cup frozen, canned or fresh vegetables

• 1/2 medium potato

How much vegetables and fruits do we need?

A child age 2-3 :4 servings

A child age 4-8 :5 servings

A child age 9-13: 6 servings

A teenager: 7-8 servings

An adult 19-50: 7-10 servings

An adult over 50: 7 servings

Food Group #2-Grain Products

This is the second food group, second in importance only to Vegetables & Fruit. We need slightly fewer servings from this group. These are the food products in this group with their serving sizes:

• 1 slice of bread

• 1/2 bagel

• 1/2 cup cooked rice, bulgur or quinoa

• 1/2 cup cooked pasta or couscous

• 30g of cold cereal

• 3/4 cup hot cereal

• 1/2 pita, tortilla or flat bread

How much do we need?

A child 2-3 years requires 3 servings of grain products

A child 4-8: 4 servings

A child 9-13: 6 servings

A teenager: 6-7 servings

An adult age 19-50: 6-8 servings

Ad adult over 50: 6-7 servings

NB-Where there is a range such as 1-2, the larger number is for a male.

The next two food groups are:

1. Milk & Milk Alternatives

2. Meat & Meat Alternatives

Continued in Part 2.

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