BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

MARCH 7, 2024

Little people have tiny tummies, but they also have great nutritional needs, and as a parent it’s important to know how much food your under-five should eat each day, and what exactly should be going on their plate (or in their bento box!).  

On one level, serving up a balanced diet is super easy.   

You just need to make sure your under-five is eating fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy and meat, or a meat alternative, every day.  

However, the devil is in the detail, because there are zillions of foods that fit into these five groups; and it helps to know that fruit doesn’t just mean fresh apple, tinned vegetables are nutritious, and nuts can count towards your kiddo’s meat alternative quota.  

Then there’s the small matter of serving sizes, because although it’s true that toddlers need four serves of grains each day, this figure is a bit abstract when you’re holding a box of cereal and don’t know whether to pour out a little or a lot! 

 

Fortunately, there’s some very good information available to help you feed your under-five well. 

The Australian Dietary Guidelines are a great go-to, as is the Grow & Go Toolbox. 

The Grow & Go Toolbox contains free, expert-verified information on food and nutrition, and it’s specially designed for people who are caring for under-fives.  

You can explore the Toolbox at your leisure, but to get you up to speed on the five food groups, and what different servings actually look like, we’ve sought the advice of Dr Clare Dix and Ms Stella Boyd-Ford, dietitians from the Grow & Go Toolbox and The University of Queensland.  

Photo credit: The Grow & Go Toolbox

Clare and Stella explain that each food group brings its own body-boosting power, and it’s important that your child eats all five food groups every day.  

This is because: 

• Grains, like pasta, bread, crackers, noodles and rice are energy foods that fuel your child’s body for learning and play 
  
  
• Dairy, like cheese, milk and yoghurt, build strong bones and boost your child’s body with vitamins and minerals 
  
  
• Fruit (whether fresh, frozen, tinned or dried) contains fibre, vitamins and minerals which are great for your under-five’s health 
  
  
• Vegetables {whether raw or cooked, fresh, frozen or tinned) are also a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals; and 
  
  
• Meat or alternatives, like chicken, fish, red meat, tofu, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds (including peanut butter, seed spreads and hummus) are packed with protein, which supports your child’s growing body and mind.  
  
  

Instead of eating masses of meat and minimal veg, your child needs a certain number of serves from each food group, every day, and these serves will vary, depending on your little one’s age and gender.  

The Australian Dietary Guidelines explain how many serves different children need, and because ‘four serves of grains’ (or 2 ½ serves of vegetables) is a bit random, Clare and Stella have kindly converted these numbers into some actual foods! 

They explain that for children: 

One serve of grains is:  

• 1 slice of bread 
• ½ flatbread  
• 3 crackers  
• ½ cup of cooked porridge  
• ½ cup of rice, pasta or noodles  

One serve of dairy is: 

• 250ml of cow’s milk   
• 250ml soy milk – calcium-fortified   
• 200g yoghurt   
• 2 slices cheese (40g)  
• ½ cup grated cheese   

One serve of fruits is:   

• 1 piece of medium fruit, like an apple that can fit into your hand  
• 2 pieces of smaller fruits, like apricots 
• 1 cup of chopped-up fruit  
• 30g of dried fruit  
• 150g of pureed fruit 

One serve of vegetables is:  

• 1 small potato  
• ½ cup cooked peas or beans  
• 1 cup of salad   
• 1 tomato 

One serve of meats is: 

• ½ cup cooked meat (including chicken or fish), as a stew, casserole, curry, bolognaise or pattie   
• 2 eggs, boiled, scrambled or as an omelette 
• 170g tofu  
• 1 cup of baked beans, lentils, chickpeas, dahl or soup 
• 1½ tablespoons of nut or seed paste, such as peanut butter, almond butter or tahini   

When it comes to drinks, Clare and Stella explain that under-fives should drink milk and water, instead of getting their fruits from juice, and toddler milks aren’t necessary for their dairy intake.  

Instead, you can feed your little one milk, yoghurt or any of the dairy options outlined above.  

It’s good to test out different food colours, textures and tastes as you roll out the kids’ menu, and if you have a picky toddler, it helps to make things interesting!  

This could mean that one day you: 

• Serve wholemeal breakfast cereal and milk in separate bowls for breakfast, then let your toddler mix them together 
   
• Serve banana and yoghurt for morning tea, slicing up the banana, so your toddler can dip each piece into their bowl of yoghurt 
   
• Serve quiche made with grated zucchini, carrot and corn for lunch, using large cookie cutters to cut out toddler-appealing quiche shapes 
   
• Serve crackers topped with sliced cucumber and cream cheese for afternoon tea, encouraging your toddler to dip and spread the cheese with a child-safe knife; and 
   
• Serve beef, lentil and vegetable bolognaise, with interesting-shaped pasta, like bows, tubes or spirals.  

Some pre-schoolers eat anything, while others are very choosy, but as long as they’re eating from all five food groups each day, life is good!  

Photo credit: The Grow & Go Toolbox

On a final note, it is important to serve your little one’s food in a safe way.  

Some ingredients, like whole nuts and grapes can pose a choking risk for under-threes, so check out these tips when it comes to food prep, and be aware that anything smaller than a 20-cent coin may be risky for your mini-muncher.  

Make sure you have a look at the Grow & Go Toolbox as well, because it’s designed for people just like you, and we hope the above advice makes it easy to serve up a balanced diet for your under-five.