Balanced Diet

Key Stage 1

Meaning

Four plates showing a balanced diet.

Having a balanced diet means eating the right amounts of different food.

Singular Noun: Balanced diet

Plural Noun: Balanced diets

About a Balanced Diet

We need a balanced diet to stay healthy. Food allows us to move, grow, repair injuries and stay alive. If we do not eat certain foods this might make us tired trying to move, might stop us growing, might make injuries very slow to heal or make us so ill we could die.

In a balanced diet we need to make sure we get enough:

• Protein
• Vitamins
• Energy

Protein

We can eat any of these foods to get enough protein.

Meat provides lots of protein for a balanced diet.	You can help keep your diet balanced by eating lots of different beans.
Nuts are the seeds of trees and are part of a balanced diet.	There are many different kinds of peas that can help make sure you have a balanced diet.

Vitamins

We should eat lots of these different foods to make sure we get all the vitamins we need.

Fruit are very sweet and 2 - 5 portions of them everyday help make a balanced diet.	You should eat 3 to 5 portions of vegetables everyday to get the vitamins you need in a balanced diet.	Breakfast cereal has added vitamins in them to help make a balanced diet because some people are too fussy to eat enough vegetables.

Energy

We can eat any of these foods to get enough energy.

Bread makes part of a balanced diet because it has a lot of stored energy we can use.	A balanced diet might contain pasta for energy.
Potatoes are an excellent source of energy in a balanced diet.	Rice is a very important part of many people's balanced diet.

Key Stage 2

Meaning

Having a balanced diet means eating different foods to make sure an animal gets enough protein, vitamins and energy.

About Balanced Diets

Different animals need different diets, but they all need the right balance of different nutrients.

If a diet is not balanced it can cause an animal to become ill, or not to grow properly.

100 years ago humans were shorter because most people didn't have a balanced diet.

Diets in Different Animals

A crocodile is a carnivore. To have a balanced diet it only needs to eat meat.	A cow is a herbivore. To have a balanced diet it needs to eat grass and grains like corn.	A hedgehog is an omnivore. To have a balanced diet a hedgehog eats insects, snails, mushrooms, grass roots and berries.

Diet and Health

Starvation	Obesity	Scurvy	Kwashiorkor
Not enough food, especially foods with a lot of energy, causes you to become too thin.	Too much food, especially foods with a lot of energy, causes you to gain weight and increases the risk of heart attack.	Not enough Vitamin C causes your wounds to stop healing, sores to appear on the tongue and skin and teeth to fall out.	Not enough protein causes your organs to swell.

Key Stage 3

Meaning

Four plates showing a balanced diet.

Having a balanced diet means eating a variety of food to make sure you get the right amount of; carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and fibre.

About a Balanced Diet

We need a balanced diet to stay healthy.

Carbohydrates and fats provides us with energy for respiration.

Proteins, vitamins and minerals in food are used for growth and repair.

Fats and minerals help keep our nervous system healthy.

In a balanced diet we need to make sure we get enough:

• Carbohydrates - To provide energy for respiration.
• Proteins - To provide material for growth and repair.
• Fats and Oils - For our nervous system to function.
• Vitamins - For growth and repair.
• Minerals - Four growth, repair and our nervous system to function.
• Fibre - To aid digestion.
• Water - To aid digestion and keep us hydrated.

Note - Fibre and water are not nutrients, but they are an important part of a balanced diet.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates can be split into two groups. Complex Carbohydrates like starch which are very important in our diet and Simple Carbohydrates called sugars that can be harmful if we eat to much of them.

Foods with lots of starch:

Bread makes part of a balanced diet because it has a lot of stored energy we can use.	A balanced diet might contain pasta for energy.	Potatoes are an excellent source of energy in a balanced diet.	Rice is a very important part of many people's balanced diet.

Foods with lots of sugars:

Fruit has lots of sugar but is healthy because it also has vitamins and fibre inside.	Yoghurt has a lot of sugar but there are also some health parts like a mineral called Calcium.	Sweets are full of sugar with nothing healthy in them.	Energy drinks have nothing healthy in them and are packed with sugar.

Protein

We can eat any of these foods to get enough protein.

Meat provides lots of protein for a balanced diet.	You can help keep your diet balanced by eating lots of different beans.	Nuts are the seeds of trees and are part of a balanced diet.	There are many different kinds of peas that can help make sure you have a balanced diet.

Fats and Oils

Oil is better for us than fat, but we need some of both.

If we eat too much fat and oil then we can become obese.

These foods contain a lot of fats and oils.

Meat contains useful fat for our diets, but too much can lead to heart disease.	Fish is a very healthy source of oils in our diet.	Butter is full of fat and we shouldn't eat too much. Butter is found in cakes and cookies.	Cooking oil is used to fry our food causing it to have a lot of oil inside it. A small amount is healthy but too much is bad for us.

Vitamins

We should eat lots of these different foods to make sure we get all the vitamins we need.

Fruit are very sweet and 2 - 5 portions of them everyday help make a balanced diet.	You should eat 3 to 5 portions of vegetables everyday to get the vitamins you need in a balanced diet.	Breakfast cereal has added vitamins in them to help make a balanced diet because some people are too fussy to eat enough vegetables.