Healthy Eating
Give it a Go!
The big message for Healthy Eating is ‘Give it a go!’
Whether that means having one extra portion of fruit or vegetables a day, being a bit more active, experimenting with a new recipe or using up leftovers – Healthy Eating is all about giving it a go!
Our Daily Themes Are:
- Monday: Get at least 5 A DAY – Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count!
- Tuesday: Stay hydrated – Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
- Wednesday: Move more – Find ways to be more active every day.
- Thursday: Focus on fibre – Have more wholegrain foods, fruit, vegetables, beans and lentils.
- Friday: Reduce food waste – Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook and eat.
Monday
Get At Least 5-A-Day!
Fresh, frozen, dried, and canned all count.
We encourage and recommend to our pupils to have at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Only around one in ten children have their 5 A DAY.
Eating a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables as part of meals and snacks provides us with a range of important nutrients. Diets high in fruit and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
At Whitehall Academy we complete Key activities with our pupils, for example, ‘ Find the fruit and vegetables’. This activity will help pupils to become familiar with the wide variety of fruit and vegetables.
Tuesday
Stay Hydrated
Have about 6-8 drinks a day. Tap water is a great choice.
Our bodies lose water throughout the day in urine and sweat as well as small amounts through breathing. If we do not drink enough fluids, we can become dehydrated. To stay hydrated we need fluid from foods and drinks.
We should have around 6-8 glasses or cups of fluid each day, and more if the weather is hot, or we are exercising, or being active.
Water is a great choice for your main drink because it keeps you hydrated without adding calories to your diet, or sugars that may damage teeth.
At Whitehall Academy, we complete different Key Activities with the pupils, for example, set up a ‘ Hydration Station’ – where we encourage pupils to help themselves to drink.
Wednesday
Move More
Find more ways to be active every day.
Being active is beneficial because it can help to maintain energy balance (a healthy weight), improve heart health, and strengthen muscles and bones. It can also improve sleep, relieve stress, and lift mood.
Children and Young People (5 to 18 years) should engage in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week (for children or young people with disabilities, the guidance is 20 minutes of physical activity per day). This can include all forms of activity such as physical education, active travel, after-school activities, play, and sports. They should also aim to minimise the amount of time spent being inactive (sedentary).
At Whitehall Academy we complete with pupils different key activities, for example: Move More activities cards, where we encourage pupils to think about different ways of getting active. We challenge them to make up their games using the activity cards.
Thursday
Focus on Fibre
Have more wholegrain foods, fruit and vegetables, beans, peas and lentils.
Most of us are not eating enough fibre. In the UK, children of primary school age are recommended to have 20g of fibre each day, but are currently only eating, on average, 14.3g a day. UK adults are recommended to have 30g of fibre each day but are currently only eating, on average, 19g a day.
Eating plenty of fibre as part of a healthy balanced diet helps to keep our digestive system healthy and is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and bowel cancer. Choosing fibre-rich foods may also help us to feel fuller for longer, which can help support weight management. Eating fibre-rich foods alongside drinking plenty of fluids and keeping physically active can help prevent constipation.
Friday
Reduce Food WAste
Aim for the right amount when you shop, cook, and eat.
In the UK, households are responsible for 70% of UK food waste. According to Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the three most commonly wasted food are fresh potatoes, bread and milk.
So much goes into producing our food – water, energy, land, and transport. Reducing the amount of food we waste is therefore important to make diets more sustainable, helping us save money but also helping to save wasting the planets resources.
We can all make small changes to reduce our food waste!