Eat well for babies, children and teens

Where to go for advice

Me size meals

Weaning babies

Introducing solid foods into your baby's diet starts when your baby is around 6 months old. Your baby should be introduced to a varied diet, alongside their usual breast milk or first infant formula.

It can be confusing knowing when and how to start introducing solid foods. Start4Life guides you through the weaning journey and explain what it all means. There is expert NHS advice, helpful videos, tips from other parents, and lots of simple, healthy weaning recipe and meal ideas.

Check out the official YouTube for Start4Life – reliable NHS advice tailored to your baby's age. Take a look at the latest weaning content, including recipes and top tips.

Healthy eating for kids

Children need a varied and balanced diet to give them energy and nutrients for growth, development and activity.

From the age of 2 children should gradually move to the same foods as
the rest of the family. By the age of 5 they should be the same foods in child size portions, roughly half the size portion for an adult.

Change4Life aims to ensure parents have the essential support and tools they need to make healthier choices for their families. There is help for families with fun ideas to help kids stay healthy get kids moving or help in understanding food labels.

If you are looking for help with meal planning, Youtube for Change4Life has recipe videos to help families cook easy, healthy meals.

Healthy eating for teens

As a teenager, your body is going through many physical changes – changes that need to be supported by a healthy, balanced diet.

By eating a varied and balanced diet as shown in the Eatwell Guide, you should be able to get all the energy and nutrients you need from the food and drink you consume, allowing your body to grow and develop properly. Some important nutrients to be aware of are:

  • iron
  • vitamin D
  • calcium

Eating healthily doesn't have to mean giving up your favourite foods. It simply means eating a variety of foods and cutting down on food and drinks high in fat and sugar, such as sugary fizzy drinks, crisps, cakes and chocolate. These foods should be eaten less often and in smaller amounts.

Eating a balanced diet is the way to go. Dieting, skipping breakfast or starving yourself don't work.

Here are some tips to help you eat more healthily:

  • Don't skip breakfast
    Skipping meals won't help you lose weight and isn't good for you, because you can miss out on important nutrients. Having breakfast will help you get some of the vitamins and minerals you need for good health
  • Get your 5 A Day
    Fruit and vegetables are good sources of many of the vitamins and minerals your body needs during your teenage years. Aim to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and veg a day
  • Healthier snack ideas
    Cut down on food and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt, such as sweets, chocolate bars, cakes, biscuits, sugary fizzy drinks and crisps, which are high in calories (energy). Consuming too many calories can lead to weight gain and becoming overweight
  • Stay hydrated
    Aim to drink 6 to 8 glasses of fluids a day – water and lower-fat milk are both healthy choices
  • Even unsweetened fruit juice is sugary. Your combined total of drinks from fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies shouldn't be more than 150ml a day – which is a small glass. For example, if you have 150ml of orange juice and 150ml smoothie in one day, you'll have exceeded the recommendation by 150ml
  • Feeling tired
    If you often feel run down, you may be low on iron. Teenage girls are especially at risk because they lose iron during their period. Try to get your iron from a variety of foods. Some good sources are red meat, breakfast cereals fortified with iron, and bread 
  • Vitamin D
    Vitamin D helps keep bones and teeth healthy. We get most of our vitamin D from the sun, but it's also available in some foods.
  • Calcium
    Calcium helps to build healthy bones and teeth. Good sources of calcium include milk and other dairy products, and leafy green vegetables 
  • Fad diets
    Diets that promise quick weight loss are often not nutritionally balanced, meaning you could miss out on important vitamins and minerals. They also tend to focus on short-term results, so you end up putting the weight back on. Start losing weight the healthy way
  • Eating disorders
    Does eating make you feel anxious, guilty or upset? An eating disorder is serious and isn't something you should deal with on your own. Talk about it with someone you trust, there are treatments that can help, and you can recover from an eating disorder. Check out Beat for eating disorders