Child health and weight
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A healthy body for a child is one that, whatever shape, size or weight, feels good, has enough energy and grows in a way that is right for them. This will let the child be active and participate in life.
Helping your child to eat well
Eating well for children means having a varied diet that helps them grow, gives them energy and helps them feel good.
A varied diet for children should include, on a daily basis, lots of unprocessed good quality foods. This is food in its most natural form for example fruit and vegetable, unprocessed proteins (fish, meats, eggs, nuts, seeds and pulses), wholegrain starchy foods and dairy foods.
Suggestions for a varied diet
- Try to offer at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Try mixing a variety of vegetables into family meals e.g. mince and tatties, spaghetti bolognaise, stews, soups. Offer fruit with breakfast, as a second course or for snacks. Vegetable sticks e.g. carrots, cucumber, peppers make healthy snacks. Fruit and vegetables can be fresh, frozen or tinned.
- Offer fish at least twice a week. This can be fresh or tinned fish.
- Add beans and pulses to soups, curries, pasta dishes and stews.
- Add seeds and nuts* to cereals and baking and for snacks. Many children like peanut butter on toast.
- Offer eggs in salads, sandwiches and for light meals and snacks.
- Limit processed foods e.g. chicken nuggets, fish fingers, cooked meats to 1-2 times a week.
- Offer high fibre wholegrain foods.
- Try cooking with rapeseed or olive oil.
- Limit foods that are high in sugar and salt. Try to keep these foods to no more than once a day.
- Offer good quality snacks e.g. fruit, vegetable sticks, cheese, eggs, nuts*, natural yoghurt, toast, breadsticks, and crackers.
- Offer 6-8 glasses of water or sugar-free diluting juice.
- Try not to label food as good or bad - try to use the terms every day and sometimes foods instead.
* Warning: do not give whole nuts to children under 5 as there is a choking risk.
Other advice
- Try new foods and new recipes.
- As a parent or carer eat good quality food. Children are likely to copy you.
- Eat meals as a family when you can.
- Enjoy an active lifestyle together with your child.
- Allow your child to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.
- Try to stick with a good mealtime routine with regular meals e.g. breakfast, lunch and dinner and only small nutritious snacks in between that keep children from getting too hungry.
- Comfort children with attention, listening and hugs instead of food.
- Create a non-distracting environment, separate eating from other activities.
Helping your child to enjoy being active
Enjoying moving our bodies and being physically active is hugely important for our health and wellbeing.
Physical activity doesn’t have to be an organised sport (although of course it can be); a lot of the time it is about having fun and moving our body. Active play of all kinds helps improve co-ordination, physical confidence and creativity, as well as physical fitness. Playing together as a family or with others improves communication and social confidence.
Look for opportunities to fit a bit more activity into everyday life. Suggestions for fun things to do:
- Get outside in the fresh air at your local park or anywhere else.
- Make up games while you are outside, e.g. treasure hunts, hide and seek, tig.
- Have a big dance party around the house!
- As a parent or carer role model physical activity purely for enjoyment.
- Make everyday journeys active by walking, wheeling, cycling, scooting or skipping…or however you like!
- Remember anything is better than nothing, and a little bit more is better still.
- Over time we can build up to the recommended levels of physical activity for birth-5 and 5-18.
Check out:
- Bumps to Bairns for younger children
- Parent Club for all age groups
- more information about physical activity
Services available
If you are worried about your child’s weight, health or relationship with food, you can find help here.
Argyll and Bute
You can refer yourself to the Nutrition and Dietetic service to find out more about the PEACH programme.
Highland
The X and Y programmes (below) are available to those living within the Highland HSCP area.
The X Programme
What is the X Programme?
The X Programme will help you and your family to make good choices about how to improve your health and wellbeing.
It is 8 online meetings with a group and your trained group leader. The course includes:
- basic nutrition
- building good relationships with food and your body
- enjoying being physically active
- helping children feel good about themselves
The PEACH Programme
Paediatric Eating and Activity Change for Health (PEACH) is a family-based lifestyle change programme.
The programme aims to support children and young people who are living at a higher body weight to make changes to their lifestyle through fun, interactive sessions and an app.
Before taking part in the programme, parents or guardians are invited to an assessment appointment with a specialist dietitian to discuss the programme in more detail and check it is suitable for the young person.
Read a PEACH Pogramme overview (pdf).
Free resources
- Children's Healthy Living First Line Advice (pdf)
- Everyday Eating for Child Health and Wellbeing - use the 'open' link to view a pdf
- Everyday Eating for Child Health and Wellbeing – Polish Version - use the 'open' link to view a pdf
- Everyday Eating for Less - use the 'open' link to view a pdf
- Talking to your child about weight - a guide for parents and caregivers of children aged 4-11 years (pdf)
- The Highland Food Guide - use the 'open' link to view a pdf
- The Highland Food Guide – Polish Version - use the 'open' link to view a pdf
Free e-learning opportunities
- How We Eat - Care & Learning Alliance
- Healthy Body Image and Body Confidence - Care & Learning Alliance
- Child Healthy Weight - Care & Learning Alliance
- Challenging Weight Stigma – Learning Hub - Public Health Scotland