The Balance of Good Health

A healthy diet is a varied diet based on carbohydrate rich foods such as bread, potatoes and cereals. A healthy diet should be low in fat and rich in fruit and vegetables. A healthy diet should also include moderate amounts of milk and dairy products, meat, fish or meat and limited amounts of foods containing fat or sugar.

The Balance of Good Health is a pictorial guide showing the proportions and types of food that are needed to make up a healthy balanced diet. The guide is divided into five food groups: bread, other cereals and potatoes; fruit and vegetables; milk and dairy foods; meat, fish and alternatives; foods containing fat and foods containing sugar. Foods from the largest groups should be eaten most often and foods from the smallest group should be eaten least often. The guide is shaped like a dinner plate which has been designed to make healthy eating simpler to understand and interpret.

No single food contains all the essential nutrients the body needs to be healthy and function efficiently. The nutritional value of a person's diet depends on the overall mixture, or balance, of foods that is eaten over a period of time, as well as the needs of the individual. That is why a balanced diet is one that is likely to include a large number or variety of foods, so adequate intakes of all the nutrients are achieved.

We need energy to live, but the balance between carbohydrate, fat and protein must be right for us to remain healthy. Too little protein can interfere with growth and other body functions, too much fat can lead to obesity and heart disease. Adequate intakes of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre are important for health.