Good nutrition is vital for healthy development, and creating a “healthy food environment” also helps young people to develop habits that will set them up for a healthy life, says Senior Lecturer (Human Nutrition) Dr Anita Lawrence.

Dr Lawrence, who teaches subjects in the major in Human Nutrition in the University of Melbourne’s Science and Biomedicine bachelors degrees, shares tips for parents of teens and tweens in the bite-sized lecture below, including understanding and implementing Australia’s Dietary Guidelines, making dietary changes easy and nutritious snacks for growing bodies.

Major in Human Nutrition: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/major/human-nutrition/

She says the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Australian Dietary Guidelines, produced by Australia’s NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) gives clear advice, based on the best available scientific research.

Australian Guide to Healthy Eating: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating
Australian Dietary Guidelines: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines
How to understand serving sizes: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes