About SWAP IT Recommendations
SWAP IT recommendations are the lists of foods Good for Kids dietitians recommend for including in the lunchbox as part of the SWAP IT program.
How were SWAP IT Recommendations developed?
The SWAP IT recommendations are based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents.
These documents provide nutrition recommendations for the Australian population based on the best available evidence for what children and adults need to eat for health and wellbeing.
Generally, if a food is included in one of the core 5 foods groups (fruits; vegetables; grains; dairy; protein), it has been recommended as part of the SWAP IT recommendations. See also the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
What about other types of foods?
In order to decide which processed/pre-packaged foods were included as preferred SWAP IT recommendations, Good for Kids dietitians selected foods that:
- Contain less sodium than similar comparison foods
- Contain less saturated fat than similar comparison foods
- Contain less sugar than similar comparison foods
Often the foods recommended also provide more fibre, vitamins or minerals.
See our resource on how to read food labels here.
Making What Children Eat ‘Count’
Children are growing fast but have small stomachs, that’s why it’s best that most of the food they eat provides them with nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.
When children fill up on too many sometimes foods (foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium), it makes it hard to fit in all the everyday, nutritious foods they need.
