Protein-rich foods such as meat, fish and alternatives should form roughly one-sixth of our daily diet. This is an important group for providing protein, iron and also many vitamins and minerals, such as B Vitamins - which are important for healthy blood - and magnesium - which helps release the energy from our food. Iron from meat (haem iron) is more readily absorbed than iron from plants (non-haem iron). Red meat is an especially good source of iron but remember to go for leaner cuts of meat and to trim off the fat before eating, to lower your and your child’s intake of saturated fat.

Proteins are made up of amino acids - like beads on a chain - with different 'beads’ linking up to make different proteins. Some amino acids are essential, meaning that our bodies cannot produce them so we must obtain these from our diets. Meat, eggs and poultry provide the full mix of these essential amino acids.

If you or anyone in your family is vegetarian, or just doesn’t eat a lot of meat, there are other alternatives, such as oily fish - a source of omega-3 fats - and soya, tofu, eggs, lentils, baked beans and other pulses for protein. By eating a variety of alternative protein sources, you can ensure they are not missing out on the essential amino acids. See the vegetarian society for more advice for vegetarians.

Did you know?

Vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron from our food so it’s good to encourage the family to have a glass of orange or apple juice or vitamin C-rich veggies with a meat-containing meal.

Oily Fish

The government recommends we aim to eat 2 portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily fish e.g. salmon, fresh tuna (not canned), sardines, mackerel, herring/kippers, pilchards. 1 portion = 140g fish. Oily fish is an excellent source of essential omega-3 oils which our body cannot produce itself so must get from the diet.