Eat well (7-11 Years)

Activity 1 - Meals and snacks can be sorted into the Eatwell Guide food groups.

Use the Eatwell Guide presentation to refresh children’s knowledge about healthy eating. Ensure the children can identify the food in each food group and that they can discuss the key health messages associated with each group.

Explain to the children that sometimes we eat a food by itself and other times we eat different types of food together. Ask the children to choose a food they can see on the Eatwell Guide and say whether they would have it by itself or with other food. For example, we might eat a piece of fruit or a yogurt by itself, but we would probably eat a piece of salmon or chicken with other food, such as potatoes and peas.

Show the Meals and snacks presentation, e.g. shepherd’s pie.

Look at each dish in turn and ask the children to identify a food in the dish and the food group to which it belongs. Talk to the children about ingredients which may be in the dish but cannot be seen, e.g. oil (for cooking), spread (in sandwiches).

For example:

Task the children to find different meals and snacks in recipe books, magazines or on the internet and analyse them using the What is it made from? worksheet. The children could also use the World food cards for this activity.

When the children have finished the task, ask them to share some of the meals and snacks they have found, state the ingredients they contain and where they belong on the Eatwell Guide.

Summarise that most of the meals and snacks we eat contain food from more than one food group.  This helps us to have the different types and varieties of food we need for health.   

Activity 2 - The Eatwell Guide shows the proportions in which different types of food are needed for a well-balanced and healthy diet. 

Show the Eatwell Guide image on the Eatwell Guide presentation 7-11 or the Eatwell Guide poster. Discuss the size of the different food groups and what this means. Take each group in turn and question the children:

• Is this a large, medium or small group?
• What size do you think this group is as a percentage or fraction?
• How much of our diet do you think should come from food in this group?

Establish the following points about the groups:

Explain to the children that they will keep a record of what they eat for two days to see if what they eat in this time is in proportion with the Eatwell Guide. They will also record their drinks to make sure they are having 6-8 drinks a day. The children can record this on the Food and drink diary worksheet. Print copies or display the Eatwell Guide poster for children to refer to as they complete this task.Summarise that the Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group. This means that if we set out all the food we ate over a few days or a week it should be in the proportions shown on the Eatwell Guide (as described in the table above).

If you think the children may find it difficult to know where the food they eat belongs, you may like to provide copies of the Eatwell Guide food list. This lists a variety of foods found in each group, in addition to those represented by images on the Guide.

Once the children have completed their Food and drink diary worksheet, discuss how what they ate and drank over two days compares to what is shown on shown on the Eatwell Guide.

• Did most of the food you ate come from the Fruit and vegetables and Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates food groups? Around a 1/3 from each group?
• Did you have some foods from both the Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins and Dairy and alternatives groups, with slightly more coming from the Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins?
• Did you have just a small amount from the Oil and spreads group?
• Did you have 6-8 drinks each day?
• Did you have either no Foods high in fat, salt and sugars, or just a little?
• Do you think you should be eating more/less from any of the groups?

Summarise that it is OK if our diet is not in the exact Eatwell Guide proportions every day, but we should try to be in these proportions over a few days or a week or so to make sure we are getting the balance and variety of food our body needs to stay healthy.

Activity 3 - The Eatwell Guide can be used to devise meals and snacks for yourself and others.

Task the children to work in pairs to devise a menu showing food and drink for a day that reflects the Eatwell Guide. You could provide images and recipe books for inspiration. Use the Menu planner worksheet and the Eatwell food list worksheet.

When the children have finished, ask them to share their menus and consider these alongside the Eatwell Guide.

Further activities

• Make some dishes with the children and talk about where the food in them belongs on the Eatwell Guide, e.g. sandwich, salad.
• Research restaurant menus and sort the food into the Blank Eatwell Guide to check the portions of food included from each food group.

Reviewed November 2023