Healthy Eating
Eating healthy foods is good for both your body and your mind. It helps to think of food as fuel that our bodies and minds need to grow and develop.
What we eat CAN make a difference in how we grow and in how well our bodies and minds perform at things like sports, games and learning.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what foods to choose and sometimes there isn’t much choice (like when we eat at someone else’s house or in a restaurant and when there just isn’t much choice at home).
When you can choose, it’s best to remember two things; fresh and variety!
Fresh
Try to eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Try to avoid always choosing vegetables that are fried – these are okay once in a while, but frying is not the healthiest way to cook food as it adds a lot of fat, salt and oil that your body doesn’t need.
If you don’t like cooked vegetables, try some of them raw and crunchy. They have a different taste and texture than when cooked. (Try raw cauliflower, carrots, turnips, and even potatoes!)
Variety
It’s a good idea to eat a variety of foods as they all have different vitamins and minerals your body needs to grow in a healthy way. Try to eat foods from different groups:
- Dairy (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, orange and white cheeses)
- Fruit ( like apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries)
- Vegetables (like lettuce and tomatoes, onions, potatoes, broccoli, yams)
- Cereals (cooked oatmeal and Cheerios are two with low sugar) and whole grains (such as brown bread)
- Proteins (meat, fish, nuts, cheeses)
If you don’t see these foods very often at home, try talking to the grocery shopper in your house about foods you’d like to try or see at home more often.
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