Healthy Eating
Recommended Daily Servings
This page contains information about Recommended Daily Servings.
| Cereals (including breads, rice, pasta, noodles) | Vegetables, legumes | Fruit | Milk, yoghurt, cheese | Lean meat, fish, poultry, nuts & legumes | Extra foods (have no more than) | |
| Children & teenagers | ||||||
| 4-7 years | 5-7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1/2 | 1-2 |
| 8-11 years | 6-9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1-2 |
| 12-18 years | 5-11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1-3 |
| Women | ||||||
| 19-60 years | 4-9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0-2 1/2 |
| 60+ years | 4-7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0-2 |
| Pregnant | 4-6 | 5-6 | 4 | 2 | 1 1/2 | 0-2 1/2 |
| Breastfeeding | 5-7 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0-2 1/2 |
| Men | ||||||
| 19-60 years | 6-12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0-3 |
| 60+ years | 4-9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0-2 1/2 |
What is a serve?
Here are some examples| Cereals, breads etc | ||
| 2 slices of bread | 1 medium bread roll | 1 cup cooked rice, pasta, noodles |
| 1 cup porridge | 1 cup breakfast cereal flakes | or 1/2 cup muesli |
| Vegetables and legumes (choose a variety) | ||
| Starchy vegetables | ||
| 1 medium potato or yam | 1/2 medium sweet potato | 1 medium parsnip |
| Dark green leafy vegetables | ||
| 1/2 cup cabbage, spinach, silverbeet, brocolli, cauliflower or brussel sprouts | ||
| Legumes and other vegetables | ||
| 1 cup lettuce or salad vegetables | 1/2 cup broad beans, lentils, peas, green beans, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber, sweetcorn, turnips, swede, sprouts, celery, eggplant, etc | |
| Fruit | ||
| 1 piece medium sized fruit eg apple, orange, mango, mandarin, banana, pear, peach etc | ||
| 2 pieces of smaller fruit eg apricots, kiwi fruit, plums, figs | About 8 strawberries | |
| 1 cup dried pieces or canned fruit | 1/2 cup fruit juice | 1/4 medium melon (rockmelon, honeydew) |
| Dried fruit eg 4 dried apricots | 1 1/2 tablespoons sultanas | About 20 grapes or cherries |
| Milks, yoghurt, cheese & alternatives | ||
| 250 ml glass or one cup of milk (can be fresh, longlife or reconstituted milk) | ||
| 1/2 cup evaporated milk | 40g (2 slices) of cheese | 250ml (1 cup custard) |
| 200g (1 small carton) of yoghurt, plain or fruit, or, as an alternative try: | ||
| a cup of calcium-forified soy milk | 1 cup almonds | 1/2 cup pink salmon with bones |
| Meat, fish, poultry & alternatives | ||
| 65-100gm cooked meat or chicken (eg 1/2 cup mince, 2 small chops or 2 slices roast meat) | ||
| 80-120g cooked fish fillet, or, as an alternative try: | ||
| 2 small eggs | 1/3 cup cooked (dried) beans, lentils, chick peas, split peas or canned beans | 1/3 cup peanuts or almonds |
| Extras Foods which we can occasionally include for variety. They are generally higher in fat and/or sugar, kilojoules, salt etc | ||
| 1 medium piece of plain cake or 1 bun | 3-4 sweet biscuits | Half a chocolate bar |
| 60g jam, honey (1 tablespoon) | 30g potato crisps | Slice pizza = 2 extras |
| 1 can soft drink or 2 glasses cordial | 2 scoops icecream | 1 meat pie or pasty = 3 extras |
| 2 standard glasses of alcohol (for adults only) | 1 tablespoon (20g) butter, margarine, oil | |
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