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
We can eat any of these foods to get enough protein.
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| Meat provides lots of protein for a balanced diet.
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You can help keep your diet balanced by eating lots of different beans.
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| Nuts are the seeds of trees and are part of a balanced diet.
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There are many different kinds of peas that can help make sure you have a balanced diet.
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Vitamins
We should eat lots of these different foods to make sure we get all the vitamins we need.
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| Fruit are very sweet and 2 - 5 portions of them everyday help make a balanced diet.
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You should eat 3 to 5 portions of vegetables everyday to get the vitamins you need in a balanced diet.
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Breakfast cereal has added vitamins in them to help make a balanced diet because some people are too fussy to eat enough vegetables.
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Energy
We can eat any of these foods to get enough energy.
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| Bread makes part of a balanced diet because it has a lot of stored energy we can use.
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A balanced diet might contain pasta for energy.
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| Potatoes are an excellent source of energy in a balanced diet.
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Rice is a very important part of many people's balanced diet.
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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
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| A crocodile is a carnivore. To have a balanced diet it only needs to eat meat.
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A cow is a herbivore. To have a balanced diet it needs to eat grass and grains like corn.
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A hedgehog is an omnivore. To have a balanced diet a hedgehog eats insects, snails, mushrooms, grass roots and berries.
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Diet and Health
| Starvation
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Obesity
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Scurvy
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Kwashiorkor
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| Not enough food, especially foods with a lot of energy, causes you to become too thin.
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Too much food, especially foods with a lot of energy, causes you to gain weight and increases the risk of heart attack.
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Not enough Vitamin C causes your wounds to stop healing, sores to appear on the tongue and skin and teeth to fall out.
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Not enough protein causes your organs to swell.
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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:
- 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:
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| Bread makes part of a balanced diet because it has a lot of stored energy we can use.
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A balanced diet might contain pasta for energy.
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Potatoes are an excellent source of energy in a balanced diet.
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Rice is a very important part of many people's balanced diet.
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Foods with lots of sugars:
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| Fruit has lots of sugar but is healthy because it also has vitamins and fibre inside.
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Yoghurt has a lot of sugar but there are also some health parts like a mineral called Calcium.
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Sweets are full of sugar with nothing healthy in them.
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Energy drinks have nothing healthy in them and are packed with sugar.
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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.
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