ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the building blocks of the diet and at the specific nutritional needs of young people. Despite a national obsession with eating low-fat foods, fat is an essential part of the diet, especially for people who are still growing. Some food manufacturers and supermarkets are now labelling packaging with the '5 a day' logo, which can help to show how many portions of fruit and vegetables a typical serving of the food contains. A high-sugar food will have at least l0g sugars per 100g. A low-sugar food will have less than 2g sugars per l00g. Complex carbohydrates are more useful to the body than simple sugars. There are three different types of complex carbohydrate to be aware of: unrefined carbohydrates, refined or processed carbohydrates, and fibre. The whole issue of food additives, particularly in foods targeted at children and young people, is complex and confusing.
