3.2.3.1 Making informed choices GapFill

It is very important to eat a  unbalancedlegalbalancedproportional diet as it allows a person to remain healthy, avoid certain diseases and  become overweightmaintain healthy body weightmaintain good eyesightlose weight. Planning a diet may be easier with the use of dietary guidelines such as  the Eatwell Leadthe Eatwell Guidethe Eatwell Showthe Eatwell Guard.

This guideline divides food sources into various categories, such as fruit and vegetables,  starchy foodsmilk and dairycerealsfree sugars, proteins,  liquid foodsmilk and dairysolid foodsdairy and alternatives, and oils and spreads. It also shows how much of each group a person should consume each day.

Another example of a healthy eating guideline is  one a dayhigh fivefive a daytwo for one. It specifies how many portions of  starchy foodsfruit and vegetablessugary foodsvegetable oils we should eat every day, and what is the size of a single portion. Eating correct amounts of these products is very important, as they provide many vitamins, minerals and  free sugarsdietary fibregoosebumpsprotein.

When planning a diet it is also important to take into consideration the age, gender and  health statemoodweight lossfood diary of the person, as well as the size of the portion. Eating an unbalanced, unvaried diet can lead to development of  malnutritionmalicemalconductionmalfunction.