School children Recipe: Low Fat, Low Sugar

Try and follow the same pattern of meals as the younger children with starch and fruit for breakfast, starch and vegetables for lunch, and starch, protein, vegetables and fruit for an evening meal.

Packed lunches can easily be based on wholemeal bread and butter, starch spreads and fresh fruit. Children should always be encouraged to select what they want from a small range of choices, and prepare their own packed meal.

As the school child becomes an adolescent it is still important to encourage good, well balanced eating habits and to encourage healthy exercise. There is increasing evidence that adolescents require this exercise in order to lay down the muscle and bone structure that will carry them through their adult lives.

A girl who becomes pregnant before reaching full maturity is particularly at risk of suffering nutritional deficiencies, as her own body's resources are robbed to provide the nutrients for the baby.

Copyright Peter Thomson 2012-February-4