Portioning is an important element of healthy eating, and is often overlooked or misguided. In this week's #weaningwednesday, I lay out all the facts about portioning and how to ensure that you are creating healthy habits for you and your family. See our full portion guide here.

Portioning for your Baby

Milk Intake:
Portioning is important for your baby, especially if their under 6 months of age, to ensure that their milk intake is not depleted. The purpose of solid food during the first year is simply to teach your child how to eat solid food, not to get nutrients from the food. The nutrients during your baby’s first year is coming mainly from breast milk or formula.

Create Healthy Habits:
By portioning your baby’s food from the start, you are more likely to continue healthy portion control as they grow up. It is just as important to portion food for your toddler and child.

Variety:
If your baby is still hungry after their portion of food, you can offer a finger food or a healthy dessert which differs from the meal they just had. This increases the variety of foods in your baby's diet.

Guide for Parents:
Portioning works as an excellent guide for parents. It will help you to understand what to feed your baby, and how much, based on their age.

Reduce Waste:
Your time is precious, and so are your home cooked meals. Storing le overs or batch cooked meals in portions will ensure you only remove what you actually need from the freezer.

Portioning for your Toddler and Child

According to the Home Truth Report, over half of parents are giving their under 16 year old children meals that are the same size or bigger than their own. Portioning during these stages are essential for your child to learn about healthy portions so when they grow, they will be able to make healthy choices. 

Here is the Food Pyramid and EatWell Guide provided by safefood. This is a great guide to follow for portion sizes and how much of each type of foods your child and toddler should be eating. It can be shocking to learn that a meat portion should only be the size of your palm, and a cheese portion should only be the size of your thumb! 

Read more about the portioning and feeding of dairy in our blog post here. 

Read more about water intake and how to increase your child's here. 

Our portioning pots are a great place to start if you are looking to portioning your family's food.