When fresh fruit is not in season, try a frozen, canned, or dried variety. Be aware that dried and canned fruit may contain added sugars or syrups. Choose canned varieties of fruit packed in water or in its own juice. Add variety to grilled or steamed vegetables with an herb such as rosemary.

You can also sauté panfry vegetables in a non-stick pan with a small amount of cooking spray. Or try frozen or canned vegetables for a quick side dish—just microwave and serve. Look for canned vegetables without added salt, butter, or cream sauces.

For variety, try a new vegetable each week. In addition to fat-free and low-fat milk, consider low-fat and fat-free yogurts without added sugars. These come in a variety of flavors and can be a great dessert substitute.

If your favorite recipe calls for frying fish or breaded chicken, try healthier variations by baking or grilling. Maybe even try dry beans in place of meats. You can still enjoy your favorite foods, even if they are high in calories, fat or added sugars.

The key is eating them only once in a while. Rethink Your Drink Tips for cutting added sugars by changing your beverages. How to Reduce Sodium Suggestions for when you are at the grocery store, at home, or dining out.

Healthy Eating Tips Start eating healthier with these simple tips. Good Nutrition Starts Early Introduce kids to healthy foods with these ideas. Improving Your Eating Habits Learn more about how to start changing your eating habits. Planning Meals Stock up on healthier foods that contain fewer calories to help prepare you for weight-loss success!

Cutting Calories Find out how to cut calories for your meals, snacks, and even beverages. Eat More Weigh Less Manage your weight without being hungry. Get Enough Sleep Regulate your appetite with adequate sleep.

Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Español Other Languages. Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight. Español Spanish. Home Healthy eating. Food and your life stages. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet.

On this page. About food and your life stages Babies — birth to 6 months of age Food for babies — 6 to 12 months of age Food for young children Food for children entering their teenage years Food for older teenagers and young adults Food for pregnancy Food for breastfeeding Food for menopause Food for older people Where to get help.

About food and your life stages Our nutritional needs change with different life stages. Babies — birth to 6 months of age Babies usually double their length and triple their weight between birth and one year of age.

Iron-enriched rice-based cereals are frequently recommended as the first food to be introduced, as there is the additional benefit of a lower risk of an allergic reaction.

Foods range from fruits and vegetables for vitamin and mineral content to meat, poultry, fish and whole eggs. It is unnecessary. Small amounts can be used in cereals and custards.

All milk used should be pasteurised and full fat. Whole fruit is preferable to fruit juice. Avoid juices and sugar sweetened drinks. Put your baby to bed without a bottle, or take the bottle away when they have finished feeding to minimise long-term exposure of their teeth to sugar-containing liquids.

Avoid whole nuts, seeds or similar hard foods to reduce the risk of choking. Introduce foods one at a time. Offer new foods once every 3 to 4 days to avoid confusion and to rule out food allergy and sensitivity.

Feed babies during any illness and feed up after illness. Give ample liquids if your baby has diarrhoea. Cancer Council External Link recommends that babies under 12 months are not exposed to direct sun during the daily sun protection times when the UV Index is 3 or higher.

Food for young children Once a child is eating solids, offer a wide range of foods to ensure adequate nutrition. Recommendations include: If a child is gaining inappropriate weight for growth, limit energy-dense, nutrient-poor snack foods.

You could also limit the amount of television watching. Tooth decay can be prevented with regular brushing and visits to the dentist.

Avoid sugary foods and drinks, especially if sticky or acidic. Ensure your child has enough fluids, especially water. Fruit juices should be limited and soft drinks avoided. Reduced-fat milks are not recommended for children under the age of 2, due to increased energy requirements and high growth rate at this age.

Be particularly careful if there is a family history of food allergy. Food for children entering their teenage years The growth spurt as children move into adolescence needs plenty of kilojoules and nutrients.

Takeaway and fast foods need to be balanced with nutrient-dense foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals, fruits, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fish and lean meats.

Milk, yoghurt and cheese mostly reduced fat should be included to boost calcium intake — this is especially important for growing bones. Cheese should preferably be a lower salt variety. Adolescent girls should be particularly encouraged to consume milk and milk products.

Food for older teenagers and young adults Moving away from home, starting work or study, and the changing lifestyle that accompanies the late teens and early 20s can cause dietary changes that are not always beneficial for good health.

Recommendations include: Make a deliberate effort to keep physically active. Limit alcohol intake. Reduce the amount of fats and salt in the daily diet.

Be careful to include foods rich in iron and calcium. Establish healthy eating habits that will be carried on into later life. Food for pregnancy A pregnant person should concentrate on increasing their nutrient intake , rather than their kilojoule intake, particularly in the first and second trimesters.

A healthy pregnancy only requires about an extra 1, to 1, kilojoules a day during the second and third trimester, which is equivalent to a glass of milk or a sandwich.

Concentrate on diet quality rather than quantity. Nutrients for which there are increased requirements during pregnancy include folate, iron, vitamin B12 and iodine. Iron is required for oxygen transport in the body.

Iron supplements can be advised by your doctor during pregnancy, but do not take them unless your doctor recommends them. Increasing vitamin C intake can help increase iron absorption from foods. Folate is important 3 months before and in the first trimester of pregnancy to avoid neural tube defects like spina bifida in the baby.

All women of childbearing age should eat high-folate foods such as green leafy vegetables, fruits and legumes. This can be obtained from a folate supplement and a diet high in folate-rich foods remember to talk to your doctor first. It is now mandatory for all bread-making flour to be fortified with folic acid a form of folate that is added to foods.

This will help women reach their recommended intake of folate. Iodine is important for normal growth and development of the baby. Iodine supplements are often advised during pregnancy to meet the increased needs, as food sources such as seafood, iodised salt and bread are unlikely to provide enough iodine.

Talk to your doctor about this. The recommended intake of calcium does not specifically increase during pregnancy. It is, however, very important that pregnant people do meet calcium requirements during pregnancy. No one knows the safe limit of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Recommendations are to not drink at all. Pregnant people are advised to avoid foods that are associated with increased risk of the listeria bacteria such as soft cheese and cold seafood and to be careful with foods that are more likely to contain mercury such as flake.

Listeria can seriously affect your growing baby. Being physically active has many benefits. If you are active and fit, and are experiencing a normal pregnancy, you can remain physically active during your pregnancy.

Otherwise, consult your doctor for advice. Drink plenty of fluids. Do not smoke — both direct and passive smoking is associated with growth retardation, increased risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, placental complications and low birth weight.

Food for breastfeeding If you are breastfeeding you need a significant amount of extra energy to cope with the demands of breastfeeding. Recommendations include: Eat enough food — breastfeeding burns through extra kilojoules.

Eat foods that are nutrient dense — especially those foods that are rich in folate, iodine, zinc and calcium. Eat and drink regularly — breastfeeding may increase the risk of dehydration and cause constipation.

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Increasing eating occasions and decreasing time between eating occasions in the United States. Rethink Your Drink Tips for cutting added sugars by changing your beverages. How to Reduce Sodium Suggestions for when you are at the grocery store, at home, or dining out. Healthy Eating Tips Start eating healthier with these simple tips.

Good Nutrition Starts Early Introduce kids to healthy foods with these ideas. Improving Your Eating Habits Learn more about how to start changing your eating habits. Planning Meals Stock up on healthier foods that contain fewer calories to help prepare you for weight-loss success!

Cutting Calories Find out how to cut calories for your meals, snacks, and even beverages. Eat More Weigh Less Manage your weight without being hungry.

Get Enough Sleep Regulate your appetite with adequate sleep. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Español Other Languages. Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight. Español Spanish. Minus Related Pages. Want to learn more? Connect with Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Last Reviewed: March 8, Source: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity , National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

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Low-carb diets have been popular for decades, and many different methods exist. Here are the 8 most popular ways to do a low-carb diet.

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Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Carb Counting? READ MORE. And it often beats fast weight loss for the long term. A weight loss of 0. Faster weight loss can be safe if it's done right. Examples include a very low-calorie diet with medical supervision or a brief quick-start phase of a healthy-eating plan.

Successful weight loss requires a long-term commitment to making healthy lifestyle changes in eating, exercise and behavior. Behavior change is vital, and could have the greatest impact on your long-term weight-loss efforts. A flexible plan uses a variety of foods from all the major food groups. It includes vegetables and fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources, and nuts and seeds.

A flexible plan allows a treat now and then if you like. The plan should include foods you can find in your local grocery store and that you enjoy eating. But limit alcohol, sugary drinks and high-sugar sweets. The calories in those items don't provide enough nutrients.

The table below lists some of the more common diets. There's overlap, but most plans can be grouped into a few major categories. Studies comparing different weight-loss programs have found that most programs result in weight loss in the short term compared with no program.

Weight-loss differences between diets are generally small. Before you dive into a weight-loss plan, take time to learn as much about it as you can. Just because a diet is popular or your friends are doing it doesn't mean it's right for you.

Ask these questions first:. Successful weight loss requires long-term changes to your eating habits and physical activity. This means you need to find a weight-loss approach you can embrace for life.

You're not likely to keep off the weight you lose if you go off the diet and back to old habits. Diets that leave you feeling deprived or hungry can cause you to give up. And many weight-loss diets don't encourage permanent healthy lifestyle changes. So even if you do lose weight, the pounds can quickly return once you stop dieting.

You'll likely always have to remain careful about your weight. But mixing a healthier diet with more activity is the best way to lose weight, keep it off for the long term and improve your health.

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Appointments at Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic offers appointments in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota and at Mayo Clinic Health System locations. With two out of three U. Online calorie-needs calculators are a bit over-generous with their recommendations. A better approach: Adopt habits that will help you avoid overeating see below -and skip some of the high-calorie, low-nutrient foods that are most strongly linked to weight gain, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, and potatoes.

Besides eating a healthy diet, nothing is more important to keeping weight in check and staying healthy than regular activity. If there ever were a magic bullet for good health, physical activity would be it. There are a lot of ways to get moving. Choose activities you enjoy.

For good health: 2. For weight control: 1 hour a day of moderate to vigorous activity. This activity can be pieced together from short bursts of 10 minutes or more. Key to these recommendations is that all activities should be age appropriate and fun, and keep kids moving and breathing at an increased rate.

Watching television TV can be enjoyable and informative; unfortunately it can also be double jeopardy when it comes to weight. Try these tips for curbing exposure to TV and other screen media video games, recreational computer use, and similar pastimes :.

Here are some general recommendations for sleep duration. Source: National Sleep Foundation. Together with the help of their healthcare providers, women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and new mothers can take steps that could help improve their own health as well as the health of their children.

This is a normal part of life, but when these stresses become too much, they can take a toll on health and contribute to weight gain by leading to unhealthy eating and other unhealthy activities.

One of the best ways to control stress is also one of the best ways to combat weight gain: regular physical activity. Mind body approaches, such as breathing exercises, can also be beneficial.

For more on stress and tips on controlling it, visit this Medline Plus article on Stress Management or, for employers, the University of Massachusetts website on Stress at Work.