Food groups

Food makes us grow and gives us energy. It is important to eat healthy food.

Each food type is classified into different categories:

• Fruits and vegetables : delicious and colorful they are full a good vitamins and fibers.

• Grains : pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread give us energy.

• Proteins: meat, fish and eggs help your body repair itself and help you grow.

• Dairy: milk, cheese and yogurt keep your teeth and bones healthy.

Use the food group cards to introduce each group of food to your child, you can ask your child to name you one food from each group.

Here is a link to print at home:

Food Categories to print

.pdf

Download PDF • 312KB

Activity: Food pyramid.

Using stickers (or drawings) ask your child to stick each food item in the right group.

The food pyramid helps visualize how much of each group you need to eat to be healthy.

Here is a link to print at home:

Food Pyramid and Food Items to print

.pdf

Download PDF • 378KB

Activity: Make a healthy plate.

Material required:

• Food group cards (see above to print)

• Food pyramid (see above to print)

• Pretend play food

Now time to play: using the pretend play food ask your child to make a healthy plate for you and make one for her/him.

When playing you can say: "I am eating fish, protein help me grow", and "I am drinking milk, dairy makes my bones healthy" and "Carrots are delicious and full of vitamin".

Make a healthy plate for lunch and dinner:

For lunch, make sure you have food for each food category, you can make a plate with your child and ask her/him, for example, "what vegetables do you want? You can have green beans or carrots." Give your child 2 choices that work for you so they can feel they were in charge of their meal today.

Here is an example:

• Vegetables and fruits: red bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado (can count as fat too) corn and mandarin. You could put some olive oil with the tomatoes and corn (my child doesn’t want any dressing, so I didn’t)

• Grains: tortilla, pasta or rice.

• Protein and dairy: egg and cheese in the tortilla.

Also make sure to make yourself a healthy plate too.

Example for dinner plate:

Vegetables and fruits: broccoli, mushrooms and tomatoes.

Grains: pasta

Protein and dairy: pork tenderloin and brie.

The fat is usually included in the preparation (broccoli were cooked on a pan with oil) or part of another food group - this is the case with avocado.

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