Building a Balanced Diet

The right balance on the plate

A balanced diet is not about banning foods; it is about proportion, eating the right amounts of the different food groups. Some groups should make up a large part of what we eat, such as fruit and vegetables and starchy foods. Others are needed in smaller amounts, such as protein foods and dairy. And a few foods, those high in fat, salt and sugar, belong only in small amounts. A balanced diet also means drinking plenty of water, and it can be adapted to suit different people and their needs. This module covers what a balanced diet is, how to plan one, and how to adjust it.

Balanced diet words

Learn these terms before planning a diet. They name the groups and the idea of balance.

Match each group to its place in the diet

Eat plenty against eat sparingly

Balance is about how much of each group, so it helps to sort the groups into the ones to eat freely and the ones to keep small.

Which group in small amounts?

In a balanced diet, which group should be eaten only in small amounts?

• Foods high in fat, salt and sugar
• Fruit and vegetables
• Starchy carbohydrates
• Water

Balance, not banning

The heart of a balanced diet is proportion, and a strong answer says so. No single food is forbidden; what matters is how much of each group you eat over time. Base meals on starchy foods, fill up on fruit and vegetables, include some protein and some dairy or an alternative, and keep fatty, salty and sugary foods small. Balance is also personal: a growing child, an active teenager, an older adult, and someone with a dietary requirement such as a vegetarian, vegan or halal diet, each need the same balance adapted to them. When you write about a diet, describe the balance, then say how it should be adapted to the person. Proportion, then the person: that is a balanced-diet answer.

Pick the balanced-diet features

Select every feature of a balanced diet.

• Eating the right proportions of the food groups
• Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables
• Drinking plenty of water
• Banning entire food groups completely
• Eating mostly fatty and sugary foods

Order a balanced plate

Put the steps of building a balanced main meal in a sensible order.

• Base the meal on a starchy carbohydrate
• Add plenty of vegetables
• Add a portion of a protein food
• Include some dairy or an alternative
• Keep fatty and sugary extras small

Complete the balanced diet facts

A balanced diet is about the right _____ of the food groups. Meals should be based on _____ carbohydrates. You should eat plenty of fruit and _____. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar should be eaten in only small _____.

One day, balanced

Picture a balanced day of eating. Breakfast is porridge, a starchy food, with fruit on top and a glass of water. Lunch is a wholemeal wrap, again starchy, filled with chicken for protein and plenty of salad, with a pot of yoghurt for dairy. The evening meal is rice with beans and vegetables, so the plate is mostly starchy food and vegetables with some protein. Water is drunk through the day, and a small biscuit is enjoyed as a treat rather than avoided or overdone. Notice that no food is banned; the day simply has plenty of the groups to eat freely and only a little of the group to keep small. That proportion, repeated day to day, is a balanced diet.

Tap the eat-plenty foods

Tap the TWO kinds of food a balanced diet says to eat plenty of.

• vegetables
• starchy foods such as bread and rice
• sweets and sugary drinks
• salty fried snacks

The balanced diet run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Plan for each need

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A customer follows a halal diet. How should a caterer treat this?
• Someone wants a more balanced diet but loves the occasional cake. What is the best advice?
• Building a main meal, which group should form the base?

Build a point about balance

Choose the word for each gap to complete one clear point about a balanced diet.

Explain how to build a balanced diet

A friend thinks a healthy diet means banning every treat. Using what you have learned, explain how to build a balanced diet.

• Explain what a balanced diet means
• Explain which groups to eat plenty of and which sparingly
• Explain how to build a balanced plate
• Explain how a diet can be adapted to different needs