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Academy Head nutritionist Glen Matten takes a look at Scoring 5 a day of vegetables and fruits.
Scoring 5 a day – Part One
Getting youngsters to eat up their fruit and veg is a perennial problem for parents, and certainly nothing new. Just like our parents, and our parent’s parents, we seem to fight a losing battle when it comes to getting our kids to gobble up their greens.
But what can we do about it?
We’ve been bombarded with the 5-a-day mantra for years now, and show me a child or parent that doesn’t know this most prevalent of health messages. Yet despite this, the diet of the nation’s children is still falling way short of the mark.
Latest data from the biggest survey of our eating habits in this country the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, reveals a nation whose kids eat too much sugar and salt, and not enough fruits, vegetables, oily fish and fibre.
Boys aged 11 to 18 years were found to consume on average a lowly 3 servings per day, with girls faring even worse at 2.7 servings per day. Depressingly, 90% of boys and 93% of girls in this age group failed to meet the 5-a-day recommendation.
In part two next week, Glen gives you 4 more tips on how to achieve 5 a day with your kids.
4 Tips for scoring 5-a-day
- Add in some chopped dates and cinnamon when cooking porridge.
- Include grilled mushrooms and/or tomatoes with an egg-based breakfast OR include a serving of baked beans (yes, baked beans do count!).
- Include a freshly made milk, banana and berry smoothie as part of breakfast.
- When it comes to packed lunches, add salad to their sandwiches or pitta breads.
Next week Glen will bring you Part Two and more tips on how to have success with 5-a-day
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