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Why is healthy eating important?

In adults, healthy eating can help you manage your weight and will improve your overall feeling of wellbeing; it can also reduce your risk of developing illness and serious disease.

For children the right balance of foods will give all the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.

The key to a healthy diet is eating the right amount of food for how active you are and eating a range of foods to make sure you're getting a balanced diet.

8 tips for eating well

1. Base your meals on starchy foods

2. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables

3. Eat more fish

4. Cut down on saturated fat and sugar

5. Try to eat less salt - no more than 6g a day

6. Get active and be a healthy weight

7. Don't get thirsty

8. Don't skip breakfast

  Extracted from NHS Choices – Live Well

In the 2006 ‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’ White paper, a commitment was made to initially develop three NHS LifeChecks for early years, adolescent and mid-life. NHS LifeCheck is for everyone - through a straightforward questionnaire it provides personalised information and practical advice, supporting people in making small changes that make a big difference to future health and well-being. The Baby LifeCheck is for parents and carers of babies 5-8 months old, the Teen LifeCheck for young people aged between 12 and 15 years and the Mid LifeCheck  for those aged 45-60 years.

Please see the Healthy Eating Factsheet for more information.