Recommendations 1

  1. Achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of nutritious food and drinks to meet an individual's energy needs
    • Children and adolescents should eat sufficient nutritious foods to grow and develop normally
    • Children and adolescents should be physically active every day and their growth checked regularly
    • Older people should eat nutritious foods and keep physically active to help maintain muscle strength and a healthy weight
  2. Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from all 5 groups every day
    • Plenty of fruit and vegetables including different types and colours
    • Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain or high cereal fibre varieties e.g. breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, polenta, couscous, oats, quinoa and barley
    • Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds and legumes/beans
    • Milk, yoghurt, cheese or their alternatives, mostly reduced fat (reduced fat foods not suitable for children < 2 years old)
    • Drink plenty of water
  3. Limit intake of 'discretionary' foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol
    • Limit biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips and other savoury snacks
    • Replace high saturated fat foods e.g. butter, cream, cooking margarine, coconut and palm oil, with foods with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats e.g. oils, spreads, nut butters/pastes and avocado
    • Low fat diets are not suitable for children < 2 years old
    • Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added salt:
      • choose low sodium food options
      • do not add salt to foods when cooking or at the table
    • Limit lollies, soft drinks and cordials, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks
    • Limit alcohol intake
  4. Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding
    • Exclusively breastfeed infants until around 6 months of age when solid foods are introduced
    • Continue breastfeeding until 12 months of age and beyond, for as long as the mother and child desire
    • Women who feel supported by partner, family and the health service, often breastfeed for longer
  5. Care for, prepare and store food safely 1
    • Incorrect handling and storage of food at inappropriate temperatures are major causes of bacterial and viral organisms reaching harmful food poisoning levels
    • Take care when handling food to be consumed by people who have an increased risk of food-borne illness, such as pregnant women, infants, older people and people with certain medical conditions

1. Talking with patients 2–5

  • When discussing approaches to diet and nutrition consider:
    • the influence of cultural values or family beliefs on health behaviours
    • dietary preferences of the individual and family
    • the availability, affordability and ability to store healthy foods
    • psychosocial pressures affecting current eating patterns e.g. traditional events
    • strategies to control or reduce portion sizes e.g. use smaller plates
    • avoid situations that encourage unhealthy behaviours
    • identifying alternative affordable, familiar or suitable healthy foods
    • identifying and managing triggers for emotional eating
    • the importance of regular eating patterns and mindful eating
    • meal planning
  • See Resources 1–13.

2. The facts 1,6

  • 5% of Australians eat the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables
  • 67% of Australian adults and 25% of children are overweight or obese
  • Being overweight reduces life expectancy and increases the risk of many chronic conditions. See Management of diagnosed conditions
  • The best guide as to whether food intake is appropriate for:

3. Breast and formula feeding 1,7,8,9

  • Breastfeeding benefits for infant include reduced risk of:
    • infections
    • asthma
    • SIDS
    • cognitive development issues
    • obesity
    • chronic conditions in later life
  • Breastfeeding benefits for mother include improved:
    • infant attachment
    • quicker childbirth recovery
    • return to a healthy body weight
    • risk reduction of some cancers
  • If breastfeeding is not possible, use infant formula until 12 months of age
  • From 6 months, provide small amounts of cooled boiled tap water to supplement breast milk or infant formula. No other fluids < 12 months is recommended
  • Promote and educate parents of the benefits of breastfeeding. See Resource 8.

4. First foods 1,7–9

  • Introducing first foods begins from 6 months, starting with:
    • iron fortified infant cereal or iron rich foods e.g. pureed meat or tofu
    • different tasting and textured nutritious foods
    • allergenic solids e.g. peanut butter, cooked egg, dairy and wheat products. This includes infants at high risk of allergy
  • From 12 months of age, infants should be consuming:
    • a wide variety of nutritious foods enjoyed by the rest of the family which sets the foundation for lifelong eating behaviours
    • small amounts of pasteurised cow’s milk in foods, cereals and sugar free custards
    • only water, breast milk or formula
  • Avoid giving infants:
    • soy and other nutritionally incomplete plant-based milks (e.g. rice, oat, coconut or almond) < 12 months old unless:
      • under supervision of dietitian
      • with other sources of protein and vitamin B12 included in the diet
    • any fruit juice
    • goat’s milk (due to high sodium/protein content)
    • honey (due to botulism risk)
    • low-fat or reduced-fat milks < 2 years old
    • teas, coffee, soft drinks, cordials, sports or energy drinks and flavoured milks
    • choking hazard foods < 3 years old e.g. nuts, cocktail franks
  • See Resource 10.

5. Serve size 10

  • A serve is a set amount of food that does not change
  • For pictures of food serve sizes, see Resource 14.
Serving sizes shown on food labels are not the same as nationally recommended serving sizes
  • Not all food groups provide the same energy or nutrients per serve
  • A serve of discretionary foods is smaller, less filling, lacks fibre and nutrients, contains high levels of saturated fat, sugar and salt
  • A serving size from the fruit, vegetable and legume groups is larger, more filling, higher in fibre and nutrients, and is the best choice when trying to lose weight
  • For meal planning, see Resource 6.

6. Portion size 11

  • Is the amount a person eats
  • Eating larger portions than a daily recommended serve leads to weight gain
  • Eating smaller portions than a daily recommended serve leads to weight loss. See Resource 15.

7. Preparing and storing food safely 12

  • Foodborne illnesses occur as a result of incorrect:
    • transport
    • storage
    • handling and preparation
    • temperature control
  • Correct handling of food during all stages of its preparation and storage is essential to reduce the risk of contamination
  • Those most at risk of serious illness from food poisoning are those with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, infants and older people
  • High risk easily contaminated poorly stored and prepared foods are:
    • meat and poultry
    • dairy products
    • seafood
    • cooked rice and pasta
    • processed fruit and vegetables e.g. bagged salads
    • processed foods containing eggs or other protein-rich ingredients
Best before is how long a food should keep before it begins to deteriorate
Use by is how long a food can remain safe provided it has been stored according to labelled storage conditions and the package is unopened when purchased

8. Food labels 13

  1. Nutrition panel
    • All packaged foods must display a nutrition information panel which should state:
      • the servings per pack
      • a serving size
      • a list of ingredients
      • a list of sugars, salts, fats and fibre
    • Use food labels to compare the nutritional content of packaged foods
  2. Health star rating system
    • Features a rating between ½ and 5 stars; the more stars, the healthier the choice
    • The nutritional content of similar foods can be compared at a glance
    • Makes identifying healthy foods and drinks quicker and easier
  3. Ingredients list
    • Sugar
      • choose foods with < 15g/100 g of added sugars
      • other names for added sugar include:
        • dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose
        • malt, maltose, lactose
        • golden syrup, honey, maple syrup
        • brown, caster and raw sugar
    • Sodium (salt)
      • choose foods with < 400 mg/100 g (< 120 mg is best) of sodium
      • high salt ingredients include:
        • baking powder
        • celery, garlic, onion, rock, vegetable and sea salt
        • meat/yeast extract
        • monosodium glutamate (MSG)
        • ascorbate, bicarbonate and nitrate sodiums
        • stock cubes
    • Total fat
      • choose foods with < 10 g/100 g of total fats
      • for milk, yoghurt and ice cream, < 2 g/100 g is best
      • for cheese, < 15 g/100 g is best
    • Saturated fat
      • Choose foods with < 3 g/100 g of saturated fat

9. References

10. Resources

  1. Exercise and weight loss monitoring chart and Queensland Health's Weight loss planning
  2. Talking about obesity: Obesity UK Language Matters Guide
  3. Hunger level scale
  4. My health for life and CSIRO Total wellbeing diet
  5. The Queensland Governments Staying healthy diet and nutrition resources and Dieting and weight management guidance
  6. Meal planning
  7. Nutrition Education Materials Online (NEMO)
  8. The Infant Feeding Guidelines
  9. Dietary recommendations for clinicians to provide health advice
  10. The Growing good habits resources: Giving Queensland children the best start in life
  11. A Healthy weight calculator for children and teenagers
  12. A Body mass index calculator for adults
  13. The Australian dietary guidelines for all age groups
  14. Pictorial representations of food serving sizes
  15. Tips for losing weight healthily

Last updated: September 2024

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