Food groups and serving sizes for adults

Eating a healthy diet is essential for your overall health and wellbeing. A diet based around a variety of foods helps you get all the essential nutrients you need to:

• stay healthy
• maintain a healthy body weight, and
• lower your risk of health conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and some cancers. 

What you eat affects not only your physical health but your mental health and wellbeing too. Read more about how food affects your mood. Being healthy also means that you are more likely to be around longer for your whānau. 

The 4 different food groups are:

• vegetables and fruit
• grain foods, mostly whole grain and those that are naturally high in fibre
• milk and milk products
• legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood, eggs, poultry and/or red meat with the fat removed.

By eating a variety of foods from each food group, you're more likely to get the essential nutrients you need to stay healthy and lower your risk of health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. 

Image credit: Ministry of Health, NZ

Eating a variety of foods each day will help you get all the essential nutrients you need to stay healthy. The number of servings from each food group listed below are for healthy adults, and change based on your age and gender.

Some people who are more active or taller may need additional servings from the 4 food groups. Recommendations also change if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Read more about eating, drinking and watching your weight during pregnancy. 

Food groups and recommended number of daily servings 

Vegetables

• At least 5 servings every day.
• Try to include mostly non-starchy vegetables (eg, leafy greens, carrot, broccoli, salad vegetables) on your plate instead of starchy vegetables (eg, potato, kumara, taro, cassava).

Fruit

• At least 2 servings every day.

Grain foods – mostly whole grains and those naturally high in fibre

• 4 to 6 servings per day for most adults. Older women (70+ years) require fewer servings of grain foods (3 servings per day), as they are generally less active and don't use as much energy as younger women.

 Legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood, eggs, poultry and/or red meat with the fat removed 

• At least 2 to 3 servings a day for most adults.

Milk and milk products – mostly low and reduced fat

• At least  2.5 servings per day for most adults.
• Women 51 to 70 years of age need more (4 servings a day) to help with bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis after menopause. 

Use the following information to help serve up different foods on your plate and as a guide for how much to eat each day.

Food group and serving size examples

Vegetables and fruit  – includes fresh, frozen and canned

• 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables or 1 cup of salad
• 1/2 a medium sized potato or similar size of kumara, yam or taro
• 1 medium apple, pear, banana or orange
• 1 cup of fresh or stewed fruit salad

Grain foods

• 2 breakfast wheat biscuits
• 1/2 a whole grain bread roll or 1 sandwich slice of whole grain bread
• 1/2 a cup of cooked porridge/rolled oats or 1/4 cup of muesli
• 1/2 cup of cooked pasta or brown rice

Milk and milk products

• 1 glass (250 mL) of milk or calcium-added soy, rice, oat or almond milk
• 1 small pottle of yoghurt
• 2 slices (40 g) of cheese such as edam

Legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, other seafood, eggs, poultry or red meat with fat removed

• 1 cup cooked dried beans, peas or lentils
• A small handful (30 g) of nuts or seeds
• 1 medium piece of cooked fish (100 g)
• 2 eggs
• 80 g cooked chicken
• 65 g of cooked meat (eg, roast lamb, chicken, beef or pork)

This information is a guide only. What's most important is that you listen to your body and tune into when you feel hungry and full. When you eat mindfully, you are less likely to over-eat. 

Mindful eating is when you focus on your food rather than being distracted by other things while you're eating. 

Image credit: Healthify He Puna Waiora

• Base your diet around whole foods from the 4 food groups.  
• Include different coloured vegetables and fruit in most meals and as a healthy snack.
• Listen to your body – it's natural to feel hungrier on days you're more active.
• Swap to whole grains and foods high in fibre such as whole grain bread, rolled oats and brown rice.
• Try to include legumes in your meals. These include lentils, split peas, chickpeas and cooked dried beans (eg, red kidney beans). 
• Use your hands as a simple guide to know how much food to serve up on your plate.
• Plan your meals ahead of time so that you can eat balanced meals most of the time. When you don’t plan ahead you are more likely to grab something on the go.
• Make plain water your first choice over other drinks. 
• If you drink alcohol, it's better to drink less. Avoid alcohol if you're pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Choose and/or prepare foods and drinks: 
  • with unsaturated fat (eg, canola oil, olive oil) instead of saturated fat (eg, butter, cream, coconut oil)
  • that are low in salt (sodium)
  • with little or no added sugar
  • that are mostly ‘whole’ and less processed.
• Prepare, cook and store food in a way that makes sure it's safe to eat.