Kids: Tips and Tools to Help You Eat Smart
Serving Size Savvy
Once you are following Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating and selecting a variety of foods from each of the four food groups, it is also important for you to know what a serving size looks like. Here are some examples to guide you with your choices:
- Grain Products: (breads, cereals, rice pasta) You need 5-12 servings a day, with a serving of cereal, for example, being about the size of a scoop of ice cream.
- Milk Products: (milk, yogurt, cheese) You need 2-4 servings a day, with a serving of cheese, for example, being the size of about 3 dominoes.
- Meat and Alternatives: (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, seeds) You need 2-3 servings a day, with a serving of peanut butter for example, being the size of a ping pong ball.
- Vegetables and Fruit: You need 5-10 servings a day, with a serving of fruit being the size of a tennis ball.
For more information on serving sizes, check out Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
Label Literacy
You know those labels on packages that have a list of ingredients that sometimes are hard to spell? Well, those labels are actually put there for a reason. Once you learn what they are saying, you will be able to help your family make smart choices when shopping and preparing foods. Take a look at the following web site for more information on becoming “Label Literate”: healthyeatingisinstore.ca/virtual_grocery.asp.
Colour Your World
Everybody loves colour and we are lucky that there are so many colorful foods for us to choose from. Start with each of the four food groups and think of how many different foods you could eat in each category that are different colours. For example, think of fruits and vegetables: we have green beans, yellow bananas, purple onions, red apples, orange carrots, blueberries, white potatoes, purple eggplant — the list goes on and on. See how many different coloured foods you can list!
Food Safety
Now that you are going to help to prepare foods for yourself, your family and your friends, it is time to remember some important food safety tips. Here are a few:
- Always wash your hands thoroughly before preparing or serving foods
- Always wash fruits and vegetables carefully before eating
- Use separate utensils for preparing and serving foods
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure that the meat is cooked to the recommended temperature
- Use care when cooking on a stove, barbecue or open fire
- Keep raw fish, meat and poultry away from other foods in the refrigerator and on the counter
- Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible, and use them up quickly
Make Food Fun
Think of ways to prepare your lunches or help out with the family meals that let you serve your meals in a new and interesting way. Cut food into interesting shapes, arrange meals according to colour on the plates, use herbs to add eyebrows or moustaches to vegetables. BE CREATIVE. Check out dietitians.ca/child/pdf/Cool_lunch_guide.pdf.
Grow Your Own Food
Try growing some of the foods that you like. You don’t need to have a huge space to grow some foods like herbs (parsley, basil, etc.), mini tomatoes, carrots and beans. Talk to your local garden center about good plants to grow in the space that you have, whether that might be a full size garden in the backyard, pots on your balcony in your apartment or even a garden plot set up by your community for people to grow their own vegetables.
Plan Family Nights
It seems like everybody is busy and often we don’t get to all sit down together for a family meal. Try to talk to everyone at the beginning of the week and find out what night they will all be home for dinner. Plan something fun, and get everybody to prepare something for the meal. Remember to include all four food groups.
Try Something New
Instead of the same foods all the time, ask your family to try some of the different foods that you see in the store. Some choices might be: ugli fruit, papaya, parsnips, starfruit, plantain, squash, etc. Go to the store with your family and see what new and interesting foods you can find!
Consider the Source
When possible, check out where the foods come from. For example, when buying corn, blueberries, apples or other fruits and vegetables from the stand along the highway, ask where it came from. Sometimes, it is from a farm really close by. Ask if you can visit the farm and see them growing for yourself. Maybe you can even pick your own.
Ask for Help
It's easier to make changes to your life when you have support. Talk to a trusted parent, teacher or other caring adult about the changes you are making to improve your health. If you ever need anonymous help, contact Kids Help Phone.