Boys 4-8 years old

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This information is based on the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes, the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia, and The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. These recommendations are for healthy children with standardised weight, height and estimated energy requirements and may not meet the specific nutritional requirements of individuals. Specific advice for individual needs should be sought from a qualified dietitian.

Healthy Eating Guidelines for boys aged 4-8 years

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating recommends the following servings per day:

• 5-7 servings from the bread, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles group (8-11 servings for 8 year olds).

An example of one serve is 2 slices of bread; 1 medium bread roll; 1 cup of cooked rice, pasta or noodles; or 1 1/3cup of breakfast cereal flakes).

There is an allowance of about 20g a day for poly or mono-unsaturated fats and oils that can be used to spread on breads or rolls or used elsewhere in the diet.

• 3 servings from the vegetables, legumes group (3 servings for 8 year olds).

An example of one serve is 75 grams or 1/2 cup cooked vegetables; 1/2 cup cooked dried beans, peas, lentils or canned beans; 1 cup of salad vegetables; or 1 small potato.

• 1 serving of fruit.

An example of one serve is 1 medium apple; 2 small pieces (150g) of fruit (apricots, kiwi fruit, plums); 1 cup of diced fruit pieces or canned fruit; 1/2 cup of fruit juice; or 1 1/2 tablespoons of sultanas.

• 2 servings from the milk, yoghurt, cheese group.

An example of one serve is 250 mls of milk; 250ml of calcium fortified soy beverages; 40 grams (2 slices) of cheese; or 200g (1 small carton of yoghurt).

• 1/2 serving from the lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and legumes group (1 serving for 8 year olds).

An example of one serve is 65-100 grams cooked meat or chicken; 2 small chops; 2 slices of roast meat; 1/2 cup of cooked (dried beans); 80-120 grams of fish fillet; 1/2 cup of peanuts (almonds); or 2 small eggs.

Note: You get plenty of fats and oils from the amount used with cereal foods and from meat, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, margarine etc so fats and oils aren’t included separately.

For more information, check out the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating at:
www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-food-resources.htm#consumers

Energy requirements (kilojoules/day)

Energy requirements for children vary depending on age, gender, body size and activity levels. For more information on energy requirements for children see your local dietitian or as a start, follow this link to the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes and go to page 18 http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/_files/n35.pdf

Physical Activity

A combination of moderate and vigorous activity for at least 60 minutes a day is recommended for primary school age children. For younger children particularly (4-8 years), active play is just as beneficial as organised sporting activities. Children in this age group usually prefer to be active if given the opportunity. They model behaviour from influential adults, so parents can lead the way for their children in pursuing active lives. In addition, children should not be allowed to spend more than 2 hours each day using electronic media for entertainment.

Healthy Eating for Children

The food you eat is made up of nutrients (such as carbohydrates, fibre, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins). Some of these nutrients contain energy (in the form of kilojoules) that helps fuel your body.

Children in this age group are generally very active. Although the growth rate in the 4-8 year age group is steadier than in infancy or adolescence, the nutrient and energy requirements for a 4-8 year old are still greater than for adults relative to their body weight. Children’s meals need to include a variety of foods in order to meet their nutritional needs.

Children are encouraged to:

• eat a wide variety of nutritious foods
  • eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits
  • eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain
  • include lean meat, fish, poultry and/or alternatives such as nuts or legumes
  • include reduced fat milks, yoghurts, cheeses and/or alternatives
  • choose water as a drink

Care should be taken to:

• limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake
• choose foods low in salt
• consume only moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars.

For individual nutrient requirements such as those described below, the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand Including Recommended Dietary Intakes provides an average nutrient intake requirement for individuals and a value that would meet the needs of most individuals in the population. Because it is difficult to assess an individual’s exact requirement for a particular nutrient, you might like to aim for the upper figure to maximise the certainty that a sufficient amount of the nutrient is obtained from food. For more information go to http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/_files/n35.pdf

Calcium

Calcium is important for the development and maintenance of bones and teeth, neuromuscular function and heart function. Getting enough calcium and exercise in these early years is important for increasing bone mass to prevent osteoporosis in later life. Calcium is also integral to maintaining normal blood pressure. The average requirement for calcium for children aged 4-8 years is 520 mg/day but because of individual variation, some children of this age need 700mg or more/day.

Milk and dairy products like cheese, yoghurt and custards are the major sources of calcium in a western diet. Dairy products also provide valuable protein, and vitamins A and B (thiamin, niacin and riboflavin). Reduced fat dairy foods are not suitable for young children under 2 years because of their high energy needs, but reduced fat varieties should be encouraged for older children and adolescents when the diet has diversified. Low or reduced fat dairy products have similar protein, calcium and vitamin values to ‘full fat’ equivalents.

Children who do not eat dairy products (e.g. vegans or those with diagnosed lactose intolerance) will need to obtain calcium from a non-dairy source. Non-dairy foods that contain useful amounts of calcium include: leafy green vegetables; wholegrain cereals and breads; canned fish (eaten with bones); legumes (e.g. kidney beans, chick peas, lentils); calcium-fortified soy products; and calcium-fortified breakfast cereals and juice.

Iron

Iron is important for transporting oxygen around the body and helps to prevent infection. Children who have low intakes of iron are often tired, lack concentration and suffer more from infection. The average requirement for children aged 4-8 years is 4 mg/day but because of individual variation some children will require 10mg/day or more of iron.

Red meat is the best source of iron as well as also being a good source of protein and zinc. Other meats like chicken and fish also contain iron but not as much as red meat. Iron can also be found in leafy green vegetables, legumes and iron-enriched breakfast cereals but it is not as well absorbed as the iron found in meat.

Adding a glass of fruit juice or other foods rich in vitamin C (such as tomato, broccoli or capsicum) to your meal will increase the amount of iron your body absorbs. In contrast, tea, coffee and unprocessed bran can inhibit iron absorption.

Iodine

Iodine is needed in very small but essential amounts by the human body. Iodine is essential to the production of thyroid hormone, which regulates body temperature, metabolic rate, reproduction, growth, blood cell production and nerve and muscle function. Thyroid hormone is produced in the thyroid gland, which is in the neck.

Inadequate dietary iodine can result in a cluster of physical and mental problems, leading to impaired intellectual development. The major physical symptom of iodine deficiency is an enlarged thyroid gland called goitre, often accompanied by sluggishness and weight gain. Children with even a mild iodine deficiency may have goitres and perform poorly at school.

An average 4 - 8 year old needs about 65 µg iodine/day but because of individual variation some children will need 90 µg/day. Seafoods are the best source of iodine but it is also found in vegetables and milk. Levels in or on plant foods can however be highly variable depending on where the food is grown. This can affect the amounts we consume from vegetables or that the cow consumes from grass, which then gets into the milk. Some additional iodine may come into the food supply during food production and processing. There has recently been some concern about whether the levels of iodine intake in Australians are optimal and this is being further investigated but as a precautionary measure where table salt is used in the home, the iodized variety should be used. In Australia, food labels state whether the salt is iodized.

Fibre

Fibre is important for a healthy digestive system. Children may have constipation if there is not enough fibre in their diet. Children aged 4–8 require about 18 g of fibre/day.

There are two main types of fibre: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fibre is found in wholegrain breads and cereals, and soluble fibre in fruit and vegetables. Baked beans and other legumes have both types of fibre. We need both types of fibre for efficient digestion, so eating a variety of wholegrain cereals and fruits and vegetables is recommended.

It is best to get fibre from these natural food sources. Be wary of giving your child manufactured fibre supplements, as this can affect the body’s ability to absorb minerals like calcium, iron and zinc.

Drinking plenty of water is important for a number of reasons including helping the body handle a higher intake of cereal fibre.

Sugar

Sugars are found naturally in some foods and are added to other foods for taste. There are several types of sugars—the most commonly known are glucose, sucrose, lactose (found in milk), and fructose (found in fruit).

Sweet foods are more appetising to children but parents and other adults responsible for 4-8 year olds should limit availability to occasional rather than every day treats. Children who eat sweet foods in preference to other more nutritious foods may not be getting adequate levels of many essential nutrients, may have increased tooth decay and develop bad eating habits.

Soft drinks and fruit juices provide much of the sugar that Australian children consume. Recent data show that children in the 4–8 year age group have the highest sweet drink consumption per kilogram of bodyweight than other age categories in Australia. Soft drinks and fruit juice do not give the satiety (feeling of being full), of solid food and are an easy way to take in more energy than is needed.

Sugary drinks, and foods, particularly the sticky forms can cause dental caries if children do not brush their teeth regularly and after eating. Bacteria in the mouth use sugars in food (particularly sucrose), to produce acid, which destroys the enamel coating and causes caries (cavities) to form. Both the total amount of sugar eaten, and the frequency that sugar is eaten during the day affect caries formation.

Children should be encouraged to drink water or milk and to choose from a wide variety of more nutritious and filling carbohydrate foods, which can provide energy with the added benefit of protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Sweet foods should be an occasional treat and on those occasions it is better to use sugar as an ingredient of low fat muffins, biscuits, energy bars, flavoured milks or custards than to consume sugar in its almost pure form as confectionery or as a soft drink.

Fruit juices have a similar sugar content to soft drinks. Half a cup of juice is equal to 1 serve of fruit. It is better to give your child whole fruit, which has the added benefit of more fibre and a higher nutritional value.

Eating at school

When a child begins school or preschool, parents or carers lose some control over what their child eats. School nutrition and canteen policy, teachers and friends can all have an impact on a child’s food choices. Parents or carers can reinforce messages of healthy eating by giving their child healthy snacks and lunches.

Some techniques that can help steer your child to healthy food choices include:

• Consult with your child before preparing their lunch.
• Go shopping with your child and choose foods which you both agree are healthy and taste good. This can be an opportunity to educate your child.
• Do not encourage your child to add unnecessary salt or sugar to foods or drinks.
• Try to choose treats that also have some nutritional value, e.g. homemade plain popcorn rather than crisps, low fat yoghurt rather than chocolate mousse, a low fat muffin rather than high fat biscuits. Do not reward children with treats as this will increase the desire for them.
• Become a label reader. When comparing foods, look for foods with low fat, especially saturated fats (below 5g per 100g), lower salt and higher fibre if appropriate.
• Encourage children to regard exotic fruit like mangoes, strawberries or cherries as a treat.
• Ask your child to help prepare some of their favourite foods for their own lunch.
• Choose a school that has good nutrition policies in place, e.g.
  • healthy canteen choices
  • lunch eaten in the classroom before going out to play
  • uneaten lunches to be taken home, not thrown out, so parents know what their child has eaten
  • schools that do not allow sweets and snack foods in lunches
  • schools that have fruit and water breaks during the day (some schools encourage children to eat fruit whenever they are hungry)
• Get involved in developing a healthy nutrition policy at your child’s school.

Guide to a healthy lunchbox

Children and Vegetarian Diets

A vegetarian diet (a diet which does not contain any meat or meat products) that is adequate for adults may not be necessarily suitable for children. However, lacto-vegetarian (includes dairy) diets and lacto-ovo (includes dairy and eggs) vegetarian diets can provide adequate nutrition if they are planned carefully. A strict vegan diet is often associated with nutritional problems in children (such as deficiencies in vitamin B12, protein and iron).

Breakfast – a very important meal of the day

Breakfast helps ‘refuel’ for the day ahead and contains many important nutrients such as such calcium, iron, dietary fibre and vitamins such as riboflavin and niacin. It also help children concentrate more at school.

Some healthy options are:

• Wholegrain breakfast cereals with reduced fat milk and fresh fruit
• Wholegrain toast topped with cheese and tomato and a glass of reduced fat milk
• Wholegrain toast and baked beans
• Fruit smoothie (using reduced fat milk)
• Reduced fat yoghurt with fruit.

Healthy Snacking

Many active, growing children need to snack during the day to get the energy they need. The snacks chosen should provide nutrients as well as energy. The amount of food a child consumes will vary according to their age, sex and activity level. Selecting from a variety of foods is the key to healthy snacking, providing a variety of nutrients essential for good health.

In order to meet the guidelines and recommendations it is suggested snack ideas are based on foods that children need every day for good health. These foods include breads and cereals, vegetables, legumes and fruits, reduced fat dairy products, lean meats and eggs.

Snacks should be tasty, appealing and nutritious. Variety in colour, texture, flavour, smell and temperature can also spark interest in foods.

Processed foods such as cakes, biscuits, potato crisps and confectionery and high sugar drinks are often high in sugar, fat and/or salt and are also energy dense (contribute lots of energy but they provide few nutrients) and are often consumed instead of more nutritious, necessary foods and drinks. These should be limited in the diet, as they do not provide a positive contribution to overall nutrient intake.

Try some of the following suggestions as snacks:

• Fresh fruit: as alternatives to just apples or oranges, try strawberries, watermelon, pineapple, grapes or stone fruits
• Dried fruit: sultanas, apricots, apples, pineapple, paw paw, dates
• Vegetable sticks: carrots, celery, cucumber, green or red capsicum
• Low fat yoghurt-frozen or from the fridge mashed with fresh or frozen fruit
• Milkshakes (with fruit and/or yoghurt)
• Cheese sticks
• Natural popcorn
• Homemade frozen juice iceblocks
• Half an English muffin, pita bread, or mini pizza covered with tomato sauce and cheese made in advance, frozen and heated in the microwave
• Fruit bun, raisin toast/bread, pikelets or scones lightly buttered
• Thick soup made with vegetables and a protein such as meat or legumes
• Toasted sandwiches filled with tuna, salmon, tomato or cheese
• Wholemeal biscuits with spreads such as fish paste, tuna, egg or ham
• Crumpets or muffins lightly buttered
• Corn or rice cakes with peanut butter, mashed banana, Vegemite or cheese
• Cheese slices melted on toast or crackers
• Breakfast cereal with low fat milk

Children also need to drink plenty of water each day. Limit the amount of fruit juice, cordial and soft drinks children have, as these drinks are high in sugar and kilojoules.

Choosing a healthy low fat snack

Check out the kilojoule (energy) and fat content of the following low fat snacks compared to some high fat alternatives:

Low fat snack	Fat content (grams)	Energy content (kilojoules)	High fat snack	Fat content (grams)	Energy content (kilojoules)
Apple (150g)	0	310	Chocolate coated biscuits (3)	17	1200
Home made popcorn (1 cup) (no added butter, salt)	2	175	Chocolate coated ice cream (1)	15	920
Low fat fruit yoghurt (200g)	0.5	630	Chocolate cake (1/12 average slice)	12	1450
Homemade vegetable soup (350g)	1	430	Custard filled doughnut (90g)	17	1350
Homemade frozen juice iceblock (1)	0	325	Sausage roll (1 – 130g)	23	1560
Melted low fat cheddar cheese on rye toast (1 slice)	5	585	Potato crisps – flavoured (50g)	16.5	1085

Example of a Healthy Meal Plan for an 8 year old boy

For this example we have based the daily energy requirement on an 8 year old boy, about 1.28m in height, weighing about 25.6kg, with a light activity level, for someone seated most of the day. The meal plan is designed as a guide and meets recommended dietary intakes. The meal plan is for a single day, the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend eating a variety of foods every day to meet nutritional needs.

Energy requirements (kilojoules/day)

• About 6,850 kJ/day (1,636 cal/day)

Food	Quantity	Energy (kJ)	Protein (g)	Carbohydrate (g)	Fat (g)	Salt (Sodium, mg)
Breakfast
Wheat biscuits	3	438	3.57	18.9	0.84	81
Reduced fat milk	200ml	420	8.03	10.92	2.88	101
Water	1 cup	0	0	0	0	0
Nutritious Snack
Bread, mixed grain	2 slices	655	5.89	27.26	1.86	326
Peanut butter, no added sugar or salt	3 teaspoons	390	4.16	1.22	7.74	0
Water	1 cup	0	0	0	0	0
Lunch - Cheese and salad roll
Bread roll, mixed grain	Long	760	6.08	31.25	2.6	353
Reduced fat cheddar cheese	1 slice	232	6.57	0	3.26	145
Tomato	3 slices	30	0.45	0.86	0.05	3
Lettuce	1 large leaf	10	0.23	0.10	0.03	6
Grated carrot	30g	38	0.24	1.59	0.03	14
Water	2 cups	0	0	0	0	0
Orange	1 medium	219	1.31	10.09	0.13	3
Nutritious Snack
Fortified* chocolate beverage base	4 teaspoons	107	0.86	4.07	0.71	20
Reduced fat milk	1 mug	630	12.05	16.38	4.33	151
Mixed dried fruit	1/3 cup	699	1.2	39.12	0.54	47
Water	1 cup	0	0	0	0	0
Dinner - Beef and vegetable pasta
Pasta cooked	74g	378	2.96	18.2	0.22	42
Beef mince, low fat	80g	625	22.08	0	6.72	47
Tomato paste no added salt	22g	62	0.68	2.29	0.07	10
Onion	30g	46	0.54	1.86	0.03	4
Green peas	30g	88	1.74	2.37	0.12	1
Carrot	30g	39	0.24	1.59	0.03	14
Olive oil	1 tablespoon	681	0	0	18.4	0
Water	1 cup	0	0	0	0	0
Nutritious Snack
Rockmelon/cantaloupe	3cm thick slice	74	0.38	3.53	0.08	8

* Fortified means vitamins and or minerals have been added to the product.

Variation to energy expenditure depending on physical activity level for a boy 8 years, about 1.28m in height, weighing about 25.6kg.

Lifestyle/Exercise level	Energy requirement (kJ/day)
At rest, exclusively sedentary or lying eg debilitated or those unable to move freely	5,500 kJ/day
Exclusively sedentary lifestyle with little or no strenuous exercise, for someone seated most of the day	6,400-6,850 kJ/day
Sedentary lifestyle with little or no strenuous exercise eg seated occupations with some requirement for walking and standing	7,300-7,750 kJ/day
A lifestyle that involves predominantly standing or walking	8,200-8,700 kJ/day
Highly active leisure eg high performance athletes.	9,200-10,100+ kJ/day

page last updated: 02 April, 2009
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