Healthy Eating - Portion Sizes

In accordance with the healthy early years program we would like to encourage children to bring in a healthy packed lunch each day. Although lots of our children already do this, to make it easier we have listed portion sizes for some popular lunch choices to help. These are portions for children aged one to five, the age and size of the child will reflect whether they will be at the top end or bottom end of the scale.
As a rough guide, a portion size is the equivalent to the size of your palm, so if the portion is for your child then it is the size of their palm.
Please note the size of a sweet drink/juice should be 100 – 120ml, lots of children bring in large cartons of drink which fill their tummy’s making them too full to eat much of their lunch. It is not necessary to bring in a drink as we always offer water or milk for those that don’t bring one. If a child has a favourite drinking bottle we are happy to fill it with fresh water.
Also, portion sizes of crisps and biscuits should be noted.
We do not allow children to have fizzy drinks or sweets in lunch boxes.
If you would like to check what you’re child is consuming over a period of a week to see if it is within the healthy guidelines I have attached a chart. 




Bagel      ¼ - ½ bagel
Bread roll     ¼ - ¾ roll
Bread slices     ½ - 1 medium slice
Cream/wholemeal crackers   1 – 3 crackers
Pasta (cooked)    2 – 5 tablespoons
Apple      ¼ - ½ medium apple
Banana      ¼ - 1 banana
Clementine/manadarine   ½ - 1 fruit
Cherry tomatoes    1 – 4 tomatoes
Pizza      1 – 2 small slices
Ham      ½ - 1½  small slices
Sausages     ½ - 1 medium sausage
Tinned fish in a sandwich/salad  ½ - 1½  tablespoons
Grated cheese (in a sandwich)  ½ - 1 teaspoon
Yoghurt     1 average pot (125ml)
Fromage frais     2 small pots (60g each)

Puddings and Snacks

Biscuit      ½ - 1 biscuit
Cup cake     ½ - 1 (25g) cake
Cereal bar     ½ - 1 (20g) bar
Croissant (plain)    ½ - 1 medium pastry
Danish pastry/Choc croissant   ¼ - ½ medium pastry
Muffin      1/8  – ¼ of a large (125g) muffin

Sauces and spreads

The maximum serving size should be limited to upper end of range as these foods are high in energy or salt and an excess of high-energy foods can contribute to overweight and obesity.
Butter/margarine    thinly spread
Chocolate spread    thinly spread  (1 teaspoon)
Honey, jam, marmalade   thinly spread  (1 teaspoon)
Marmite     thinly spread
Mayonnaise, salad cream, dressing  1 – 2 teaspoons
Sweet drinks (eg. fruit juices/squashes) 100 – 120 mls

Confectionary

Bar of chocolate/choc coated biscuit  1 – 4 squares or a funsize choc bar
Boiled sweets     1 – 2 sweets
Chocolate buttons    6 – 8 small buttons
Popcorn (sweet)    1 small cup
Sweets (eg. fruit pastilles, wine gums etc.) 2 – 5 sweets 

Savoury Snacks

Crisps and packet snacks    4 – 6 crisps
French fries (thin, fast food)   6 – 10 fries