It is important that you eat a healthy balanced diet with a variety of nutritious foods. Eating a wide variety of foods will help maintain a healthy and interesting diet that provides adequate nutrition. A simple and effective guide to help you decide which foods to eat more of or to eat less often is called the Food Pyramid. The Food Pyramid features the ideal food groups and organizes the groups according to the energy and nutrients that they supply. It reveals the proportions of one group to another for our total food intake.

The Food Pyramid is divided up into three groups according to how nutritious they are.

Group 1: Plant Food
Group 2: Animal Food
Group 3: Fats and Sugar

Group 1: Eat these foods most of the time

The base of the pyramid includes all plant foods: vegetables, fruits, nuts, dried peas, beans and lentils, breads and cereals (preferably wholegrain). These foods contain many different nutrients and should make up most of the food that we eat. Eating a variety of these foods each day should provide good amounts of energy from carbohydrate, as well as protein, vitamins and dietary fibre. These foods are nutrient dense. Eating a wide variety of plant food can help to prevent serious disease

Group 2: Eat these foods moderately

Foods in the middle of the pyramid include fish, lean meat, eggs, chicken (without skin), milk, cheese and yoghurt. Eating a serving or two of some foods from this section of the Healthy Eating Pyramid should help to provide protein, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and B vitamins.

Group 3: Eat these foods sometimes

Foods at the top of the pyramid should be limited because they lack a good supply of the nutrients for growth, good health and quick energy. While small amounts of fats, oils and sugar are acceptable, larger amounts of these foods will cause an inadequately varied food intake. The pyramid also suggests that salt should not be added to foods.

Note: The Food Pyramid represents basic foods only, no composite foods (eg stews, pizza, biscuits). It does not represent serves or serve sizes, rather, it represents proportion.

Things to remember:

• Try to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods from all food groups.


• Healthy foods we should eat most of the time contain lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre.


• Sometimes foods can contain lots of fat or sugar but not many vitamins and minerals.


• It is recommended that you drink between 1.5-2litres of water daily.


• To be healthy we need to eat well and be active every day.