Ministry of Health Media Release August 6th, 2012

Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Children and Young People

The new Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Children and Young People (Aged 2-18 years) were released today by the Ministry of Health.

These guidelines are a handbook for health practitioners who work with and for children and young people.

They provide evidence-based recommendations about food, nutrition and physical activity for this age group.

Two nutrition resources for the public have also been updated to reflect these recommendations.

The Ministry of Health Chief Advisor on Child and Youth Health, Dr Pat Tuohy, said today A concerning finding from recent research was that many children are eating treat foods most days. These are empty calories which fill children up but dont nourish them.

The guidelines provide advice about how to improve childrens nutrition and keep them healthy which includes keeping high fat, sugar or salt food for occasional use only, Dr Tuohy said.

Children and young people (aged 2-18 years) represent a quarter of our total population thats just over a million people.

It is known that good nutrition and physical activity during childhood and adolescence are essential for normal growth and development and will contribute to good health and reduced levels of chronic disease and disability in adulthood.

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Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Children