Kōkiri Learn

Background reading · Health and Physical Education

A balanced plate for a growing body

What your body needs while it grows fast, the food groups that provide it, and why variety beats any 'superfood'.

Between about 10 and 15, most people have a growth spurt. Bones lengthen, muscles grow and your brain rewires itself. All that building work needs materials, and the best way to get them is to eat a wide variety of foods.

The food groups

  • Vegetables and fruit: vitamins, minerals and fibre. Aim for a mix of colours, fresh, frozen or canned.
  • Grain foods: bread, rice, pasta, oats and cereals, mostly wholegrain. They give steady energy and fibre.
  • Milk and milk products: milk, yoghurt and cheese, or calcium-added alternatives like soy milk.
  • Protein foods: legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas), eggs, fish, seafood, chicken, meat, nuts and seeds.
  • Water: the best drink, and free from the tap.

    • Key nutrients while you grow

  • Protein: builds and repairs muscles and every cell in your body.
  • Calcium: builds strong bones. You build most of your adult bone strength before your early twenties.
  • Iron: carries oxygen in your blood. Low iron can make you tired and find it hard to concentrate.
  • Healthy fats: from fish, avocado, nuts, seeds and oils. Your brain is mostly fat and needs these to develop.
  • Fibre: keeps your gut healthy and helps you feel full.

    • The plate model

    A handy picture for a main meal: fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit, a quarter with grain foods, and a quarter with protein foods, with a drink of water or milk. Not every meal will look like this, and that's fine. What matters is the pattern across days and weeks.

    Everyday and sometimes

    No single food makes you healthy or unhealthy. Some foods are 'everyday' foods, and others, like lollies, chips and fizzy drinks, are 'sometimes' foods that are fine to enjoy occasionally. Food is also about culture, celebration and enjoying time together, and a balanced pattern leaves room for all of that.

    Sources and further reading

    Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

    Used in: Kai and Me: Food Choices and Labels