Easy goodness guide: how much is enough?

Trying to give your kids the right nutrition and knowing how much to put on their plates can cause anxiety and uncertainty at mealtimes – but it need not be so. The following tips will help you get the balance right, so you’re free to focus on the fun side.

We’ve all been there, worrying about how much goodness our children are getting, whether they won't sleep through because they’re hungry, or whether we’re giving them too much of the wrong stuff. Taking a calm, commonsense approach and following some simple guidelines can help take the stress out of meal planning and mealtimes. 

General tips for mealtime balance

1. Toddler- or kid-sized plates are a good guide for meal sizes, or look for a usable area about half the size of an adult’s hand span – smaller for the younger toddlers. 
2. Don’t overload the plate. Too much food can be off-putting for kids and make it difficult for parents or carers to gauge how much the kids have eaten. If they empty their plate, or one of their meal items, you can always offer more.
3. A toddler’s stomach is way smaller than an adult’s. Offer a variety of small portions of sliced, chopped, shaved or grated foods they can easily pick up in their fingers or a spoon.
4. Learning about your child’s age, stage and corresponding nutritional needs can give you confidence at mealtimes. Links at the end of this article offer some pointers and further reading.

Serving sizes: how much in a serve?

A ‘serving’ or ‘serve’ is a set amount of a certain food type. To get it right, you need to know how much of a particular food is in each serve.

Recommendations about food types and daily servings vary with a person’s age and other factors. We’ve drawn the below nutrition and serving information from the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The Guidelines call for no added salt or sugar where possible.

1 serve of fruit = about 150g OR 1 medium apple, banana, orange, pear OR 2 small apricots, kiwi fruit, plums OR 1 cup fresh chopped or canned (no added sugar) fruit OR OCCASIONALLY 125ml / half cup unsweetened fruit juice

1 serve of vegetables (including legumes, beans) = about 75g OR half cup of cooked green or orange vegetables e.g. broccoli, spinach, carrot, pumpkin OR half cup cooked dried or canned peas, beans or lentils OR 1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables OR half cup sweet corn OR half medium potato or similar size starchy vegetable e.g. sweet potato, taro, cassava OR 1 medium tomato

1 serve of grains (wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, cereal) = 1 slice bread (40g) OR half medium roll, flatbread OR half cup (75 – 120g) cooked rice, pasta, noodles, barley, buckwheat, semolina, polenta, bulgur, quinoa OR half cup (120g) cooked porridge OR two-thirds cup (30g) wheat cereal flakes OR quarter cup (30g) muesli OR 3 (35g) crispbreads OR 1 (60g) crumpet OR 1 small (35g) English muffin or scon

1 serve of meat/poultry/ fish (or plant-based protein) = 90-100g raw or 65g cooked lean meat e.g. beef, lamb, pork, veal, goat, kangaroo OR 100g raw or 80g cooked lean poultry e.g. chicken, turkey OR 115g raw or 100g cooked fish fillet or 1 small can of fish OR 2 large eggs OR 1 cup / 150g cooked or canned legumes/beans e.g. lentils, chickpeas, split peas OR 170g tofu OR 30g nuts, seeds, peanut or almond butter, tahini, other nut or seed paste

1 serve of dairy (milk, cheese, yoghurt or non-dairy substitute) = 250 ml / 1 cup fresh, powdered reconstituted, UHT, buttermilk OR 1 cup soy, rice or other cereal ‘milk’ drink with at least 100mg added calcium per 100ml OR half cup evaporated milk OR 40g / 2 slices hard cheese e.g. cheddar OR half cup ricotta OR ¾ cup natural unflavoured yoghurt

Daily guidelines: how many serves?

The following are ‘average’ guidelines. For children who are larger or smaller than their peers or very active, you can vary them to suit. You can also make up on another day what may be missed on the previous one. Common sense rules.

For 2-3-year-olds

1. Fruit: 1 serve
2. Vegetables (including legumes, beans): 2.5 serves
3. Grains (wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, cereal): 4 serves
4. Meat/poultry/ fish (or plant-based protein): 1 serve
5. Dairy (milk, cheese, yoghurt or non-dairy substitute): 1.5 serves

For 4-8-year-olds

1. Fruit: 1.5 serves
2. Vegetables (including legumes, beans): 4.5 serves
3. Grains (wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, cereal): 4 serves
4. Meat/poultry/ fish (or plant-based protein): 1.5 serves
5. Dairy (milk, cheese, yoghurt or non-dairy substitute): 1.5–2 serves

If you want to know more about nutrition for your family, there’s a stack of resources out there. For starters, as well as the Australian Dietary Guidelines, take a look at:

Australian Government HealthDirect site ‘Healthy eating for children’
Raising Children Network ‘Healthy eating habits for children’