Recommended serves and serving sizes

Recommended serves

Recommended daily serves from the various food groups to meet your energy and nutrient needs⁶
The Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults recommends:	Cereals (incl breads, rice, pasta)	Vegetables and legumes	Fruit	Dairy Products	Lean meat, fish, poultry, nuts and legumes	Extra foods
Men
19-60 years	6-12 serves	5 serves	2 serves	2 serves	1 serve	0-3 serves
60+ years	4-9 serves	5 serves	2 serves	2 serves	1 serve	0-2.5 serves
Women
19-60 years	4-9 serves	5 serves	2 serves	2 serves	1 serve	0-2.5 serves
60+ years	4-7 serves	5 serves	2 serves	2 serves	1 serve	0-2 serves
6Kellet E, Smith A and Schmerlaib Y. The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating – background information for consumers. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 1998.

Meal plans showing how the recommended serves can be used over a day for the different groups can be found on the Healthy Weight website. An alternative eating pattern which provides flexibility for preference across food groups is available in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating publications.

Go to the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page How much fruit and vegetables should children eat? to find out how much fruit and vegetables children and adolescents should eat each day.

What is a serve?

Here are some examples of one serve for various food groups:

Cereals, breads, rice, pasta, noodles

2 slices of bread; 1 medium bread roll; 1 cup cooked rice, pasta, or noodles
1 cup porridge, 1 cup breakfast cereal flakes, or ½ cup muesli

Vegetables and legumes (choose a variety)

Starchy vegetables: 1 medium potato/yam, ½ medium sweet potato, 1 medium parsnip
Dark green leafy vegetables: ½ cup cabbage, spinach, silverbeet, broccoli, cauliflower or brussel sprouts

Legumes and other vegetables: 1 cup lettuce or salad vegetables; ½ cup broad beans, lentils, peas, green beans, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber, sweetcorn, turnips, sprouts, celery, eggplant etc

Fruit

1 piece medium sized fruit (eg apple, orange, mango, banana, pear, etc)
2 pieces of smaller fruit eg apricots, kiwi, plum, figs, etc, about 8 strawberries, about 20 grapes or cherries, ½ cup (125ml) fruit juice (sugar free), ¼ medium melon (eg. rockmelon)
Dried fruit eg 4 dried apricots or 1½ tablespoon sultanas
1 cup diced pieces/canned fruit

Milk, yoghurt, cheese & alternatives

250 ml glass or one cup of milk (can be fresh, long life or reconstituted milk)
½ cup evaporated milk, 40g (2 slices) cheese or 250ml (1 cup) of custard
200g (1 small carton) of plain or fruit yoghurt
1 cup of calcium-fortified soy milk, 1 cup almonds, ½ cup pink salmon with bones

Meat, fish, poultry & alternatives

65-100gm cooked meat/chicken (eg ½ cup mince, 2 small chops, or 2 slices roast meat)
80-120g cooked fish fillet,
2 small eggs, ⅓ cup cooked dried beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas or canned beans, or 1/3 cup peanuts/almonds

Extras

Foods which we can occasionally include for variety. They are generally higher in fat and/or sugar, kilojoules, salt etc.

1 medium slice of plain cake or 1 bun, 3-4 plain sweet biscuits, half a small chocolate bar, 60g jam, honey (1 tablespoon), 30g (1/2 a small packet) potato crisps, 1 slice pizza = 2 extras
1 can soft drink or 2 glasses cordial, 2 scoops ice-cream, 1 meat pie or pasty = 3 extras
2 standard glasses of alcohol (for adults only)
1 tablespoon (20g) butter, margarine, oil