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Putting the 5 Food Groups on My Plate
eat. You shouldn’t just eat brown rice and chicken without the broccoli, for example. Then
you aren’t eating any vegetables.
HOW MUCH DO I EAT?
You’re still missing one more important piece of information
—
how much of each food to
eat!
Lots of people tend to overeat. They eat more food than they need. When you eat too
much all the time, you don’t feel very well. You also start to gain weight, which is danger-
ous for your health.
The U.S. government also has guides about how much food to eat. How much you need
depends on who you are. Men tend to need to eat more than women. Teens and adults
need to eat more than young kids. People who are more active need to eat more.
The key to understanding how much you need to eat is calories. Calories are a measure
of how much energy a food has.
MAKE CONNECTIONS
MyPlate is a tool used in the United States. Other countries use different tools to teach
healthy eating. They all look a little different because people in different countries tend
to have different diets. Japan uses a picture of a top to explain how to eat healthy.
At the widest part of the top are grains and vegetables, which people are supposed
to eat the most of. In the middle of the top is meat and fish. At the bottom is fruit and
dairy, which people are supposed to eat daily, but in smaller quantities. Those are pretty much the
same food groups as in the United States. But Japan recommends people eat different amounts of
each group, because people in Japan traditionally eat a little differently from the way people in the
United States do.
MAKE CONNECTIONS
MyPlate also has information about exercise, the other important part of staying
healthy. You won’t find exercise right on the MyPlate picture, but it goes hand-in-hand
with eating healthy. Exercise keeps you strong and healthy. Moving makes your
muscles, bones, and joints work right. You also feel a lot better if you move around. Try
taking a run or playing a game, and see if you’re happier afterward.
Young people should get an hour of exercise a day. You don’t have to exercise for an hour at a
time, though. Exercising for 15 minutes four times a day adds up to an hour too. Exercise can be a
lot of things! You just need to find the right exercise for you, one that fits with your life and is fun for
you. Choose soccer, basketball, roller blading, skiing, running, swimming, volleyball, gymnastics,
dance, yoga, or something else! There’s definitely an exercise out there for you.