Portion Size Guide for Adults and Children

It’s important for us to eat a variety of foods from the four main food groups to ensure we get all the nutrients we need. However, it can be tricky to know how much is enough. That’s why we’ve created this blog, to help outline portion size guidance for adults and children and provide some helpful tips.


What influences our appetite?

It’s very normal for parents and practitioners to worry about how much children eat, as we want to make sure they get the nutrition they need to grow and develop well. However, it’s important to understand that children will eat as much as they need (which is sometimes less than we feel they need!), because they’re very good at regulating their appetite.

Their appetites will likely vary, sometimes considerably, from day- to- day and between meal-to- meal. Because of this, there are no set portion size recommendations for young children, just useful guides, which we provide below.

Remember that our appetites can be influenced by a range of factors, including our: age, gender, activity level, growth, puberty and illness.

Plate with a knife and fork


How to tell when children are full

As we’ve explored, children are very good at regulating their appetite, so it’s important to trust that they’re the best judge of knowing how much they need to eat. Some of the signs below suggest that children are full:

  • Turning away from food and closing their mouth
  • Telling you they’re full
  • Becoming frustrated or upset at meal/ snack times
  • Becoming bored and playing with food.

If children show these signs, allow them to stop eating, even if they haven’t eaten everything on their plate, as it’s important not to teach them to over-ride their sense of fullness.

Here are a few key tips that can help at mealtimes:

  • Use child sized plates
  • Avoid over filling children’s plates as this can be off- putting for them
  • It’s best to offer small portions to begin with and allow second helpings if they’d like more
  • Make sure that second helpings are still nutritionally balanced- meaning you include foods from each food group and not just the food group/s that children prefer
  • Offering second helpings of the vegetables, salad or fruit is a good idea to ensure that children get plenty of vitamins and minerals, and not too much energy
  • Gradually start to increase children’s portion sizes as they grow.

Toddler Eating


Portion Size Guide

Children

Organisations, such as Eat Better Start Better and The First Steps Nutrition Trust, have developed helpful guides providing simple ideas for the balance of different meal components that will meet the energy and nutrient needs of children aged 1-4 years. They provide simple food-based recommendations for each food group, followed by photos showing appropriate portion sizes for 1-4 year.

Adults

The adult portion sizes that you see below have been adapted from the British Heart Foundation (opens in new tab)

Let’s take a look at the portion size guide below:

Portion Size Guide for Starchy Foods

Adults and children should try to eat something from this food group 3-4 times a- day. To do this, we should base our main meal around starchy foods and include some at snack times too.

Examples of starchy food - Wheat, sweet potato, rice, pearl barley and cous cous

Breakfast cereals- 3-5 tablespoons (20- 30g). Bread- 1 large slice (20- 30g) of bread. ½ to 1 (25-50g) muffin, bread roll or pitta bread. 1-2 (8-16g) rice or oatcakes. Rice- 2-3 tablespoons (80-100g), 3-4 tablespoons (80-100g) of pasta.


Portion size guide for Fruit and Vegetables 

Adults and children should have at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day. A child’s portion is roughly what fits into the palm of their hand. An adult portion is around 80g.

Fruits and Vegetable Examples:
- broccoli
- carrot
-cauliflower
- banana
- peach
- raspberry

Fruit and vegetables example portion size guidance: 1-2 tablespoons vegetables (40g). ½ a large peace of fruit such as pear or 2-3 small fruits (40g). 1-2 tablespoons berries (40g). 1-2 tablespoons tinned fruit in own juice (40-65g). Dried fruit (serve at main meals only): ½ -1 tablespoon or 2-5 pieces dried fruit (15- 30g).


Portion Size Guide for Dairy and Alternatives

Children and adults should have around 3 servings of dairy and/ or dairy alternative foods a- day, to help us meet our calcium requirements.

Dairy and dairy alternative food examples- yoghurt, cheese, cream cheese, cow's milk and pea milk

Milk and milk alternatives- ½ a cup (100-150mls) of milk. Cheese- 1–2 tbsp grated (15-20g) of hard cheese. 20- 25 g of soft cheese. Yoghurt and custard- small pot (60g) or ½ large individual pot or 1–2 tablespoons (50–75g) of yoghurt. 3-4 tbsp (50- 75g) of custard.


Portion Size Guide for Protein Foods

To ensure we receive enough iron we should try to have something from this food group at least twice a- day (if we eat meat and fish), and 3 times a day if we are vegetarian. Children and adults should aim to have 2 portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines.

Examples of protein - Eggs, chicken, Quorn, beans and tofu

Typical Portion Sizes Protein: Foods - Meat, poultry and fish. Typical portion sizes - Served by themselves: 1 slice or 1-2 tbsp (30g-40g). In sauces and stews: 2-3 tbsp (90g-120g). Foods - Pulses - Typical portion sizes - Served by them selves: 1-2 tbsp (30g50g) In sauces and stews (90g-120g). Foods - Eggs - Typical portion sizes - Served by itself - 1 egg (around 50g).


Puddings and Desserts

Children should be offered desserts/puddings and cakes made with cereals (such as rice or oats), milk and fruit.

  • Desserts which include fruit should aim to contain 40g of fresh fruit or 20g fried fruit per portion.
  • Hot fruit based, for example apple and rhubarb crumble (60g) with custard (60g)
  • Milk based desserts, for example rice pudding (75g) with sultanas (25g)

Pudding Tea Examples: Mango fool with watermelon fingers. Poached pear with yoghurt and raspberry. Cottage cheese with quartered strawberries, melon and peach fingers. Chopped pears with yoghurt and cooked apple slices. Semolina made with milk, puree prunes and banana fingers. Baked apple with Greek yoghurt and quartered strawberries.


Snacks

Children should be offered 2-3 healthy snacks across the day.

Examples of typical portion sizes:

  • 2–4 mini breadsticks (8–10g), 1–2 crackers (8–16g), 1–2 oatcakes (10–20g)
  • 4–6 vegetable sticks (40g), ½ large piece of fruit, such as half an apple or pear (40g), 2–3 small fruits e.g. apricots (40g),
  • 1–2 tablespoons berries e.g. raspberries (40g)
  • 2-3 tablespoons hummus (40g), 1 egg, meat and poultry 1 slice (30-40g)
  • Milk drinks ½ cup (100ml–150ml), hard cheese: 1–2 tablespoons grated (15–20g), soft cheese: (20g–25g), yoghurt 1–2 tablespoons (50–75g).

Snack Examples Eat Better, Start Better: Breadsticks with cannellini bean hummus, sliced tomato and avocado. Crumpet with cottage cheese and pepper sticks. Greek yoghurt and squashed blueberries and sliced banana. Scotch pancakes with sliced banana and strawberries. Sweet potato wedges with natural yoghurt. Tuna pate with pitta bread and cucumber fingers.

Note: If children are offered items such as crisps, sweets and chocolate on occasions, the below are useful portion sizes to bare in mind:

  • Crisps- 4-6 crisps
  • Sweets- 2-4 sweets
  • Chocolate- 1 small fun- sized bar.

Useful Resources

First Steps Nutrition Trust

British Heart Foundation

The NHS

First Steps Nutrition Guide Example


If you’re a parent

Check out our free parent courses and webinars (opens in new tab) for more tips, information and advice.

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If you’re an early years practitioner

For more practical tips and information for your early years setting, take a look at our online nutrition training (opens in new tab) designed by our team of expert early years nutritionists!

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1 Comment

  1. Who Said You Can't Snack When The Kids Do? on February 18, 2022 at 10:37 am

    […] While adult portions are inevitably bigger than kids meals, you don’t need these snacks in the same way that your kids do. As such, instead of pouring yourself a small bowl of even that healthy cereal, you would be better off just grabbing a handful to keep your kids company as they eat. Equally, if they’re having something like cheese and crackers, making sure to eat only one can fulfil your craving without putting your waistline, and your overall health, at risk. […]

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