The UK's eatwell plate is a visual representation of the types and proportions of foods needed for a healthy, balanced diet. The Department of Health states that it can be gradually applied from the age of 2 years and applied in full from 5 years. However, there are currently no widely available specific food-based models for 1-3 year-olds (toddlers). The British Nutrition Foundation, with advice from an expert group, reviewed current dietary guidelines in the UK for 1-3 year-olds in order to develop a visual food-based resource depicting the main messages around healthy eating for toddlers. This article provides a summary of the development of this resource, which was produced to help parents, carers, health professionals and early years providers to understand and communicate the basics of healthy eating for this age group and consider other issues such as suitable snacking, healthy hydration, suitable portion sizes and advice regarding supplementation. It is hoped that this resource will help toddlers to establish good dietary habits that will persist into later life.
BACKGROUNDNutrition is a major and modifiable determinant of obesity and many chronic diseases, and diet can have positive and negative impacts on health throughout life (WHO, 2003). Obesity is a grave public health concern across the globe and is associated with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. The COVID-19 outbreak has also demonstrated that people living with obesity have poorer clinical outcomes and increased risk of mortality compared to those who are non-obese (DHSC, 2020a). Global estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that in 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults (39%) were overweight and, of these, over 650 million (13%) were obese. In the UK, around two-thirds of adults (63%) and nearly a third of children (29%) aged 2-15 years are overweight or obese (PHE, 2021). Unhealthy dietary patterns that are high in saturated fat and free sugars, and low in fruit, vegetables and fibre, have been recognised as key drivers of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases (WHO, 2018). Energy dense, nutrient-poor foods are easily accessible and widely marketed. Over the last few decades there has also been a growth in portion sizes of packaged food, which has been implicated in increasing obesity prevalence (Young & Nestle, 2012). Research and modelling have shown that changes to the diet can have a significant benefit to an individual's
Water is essential for health and vital for all bodily functions. If water losses are not replaced then dehydration can occur and even mild dehydration is associated with negative effects on health including impaired cognitive function. Studies in schoolchildren have found that many are arriving at school with a hydration deficit and, once they arrive, they are not drinking enough fluid throughout the day to maintain adequate hydration levels, thus potentially affecting their performance at school. Therefore, there is a need to highlight the importance of adequate hydration among schoolchildren. However, there is often confusion among parents, carers, health professionals and teachers about how much fluid children need to drink, as well as what drinks are most appropriate. This article provides a summary of the development of the Healthy hydration guide for children that was produced to help parents, carers, health professionals and teachers, and indeed children themselves, to choose a healthy balance of drinks to ensure optimal performance and health. It is hoped this resource will help children aged 4-13 years to establish healthy drinking behaviours.
Summary
EuroFIR (European Food Information Resource) Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif (AISBL) is an international non‐profit association to ensure sustained advocacy for food information in Europe. This article describes the importance of providing up‐to‐date food composition data and summarises the history of EuroFIR from its inception to its end (2005–2010), including the British Nutrition Foundation's involvement in the project. Also highlighted are the main EU projects that EuroFIR is/has been involved in, along with the many benefits that EuroFIR continues to offer its members.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.