Diet and Health

What is a balanced diet?:
A balanced diet means having a variety of different foods in our diet to help us enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Food provides us with nutrients, which are essential to keeping us fit and healthy. A balanced diet provides us with all the necessary nutrients in the appropriate proportions and quantities to be able to achieve a healthy lifestyle and meet the body's needs. 

Problems that you can face if you don't follow a balanced diet:  
An unhealthy diet could be one that contains high levels of fat, sugars and salt. Having a diet like this can lead to:

• Obesity
• Strokes
• High blood pressure
• Cancer
• Coronary heart disease
• Tooth decay
• Type 2 diabetes

What is the eatwell plate?:
The eatwell plate is a healthy eating model. It is made of of 5 different food groups and shows you the quantity of each food group that you should eat, as well as some foods that are in each group. It's purpose is to encourage people to eat the correct quantities of each food in order to achieve a healthy and balanced diet.

To two key things to remember for having a healthy diet are:

• eating the right amount of food for how active you are.
• eating a range of foods in each food group to make sure you are getting a balanced diet.