Healthy foods for 5-year-olds: what to put on the plate

What should a healthy plate for a 5-year-old look like?

A healthy plate for a 5-year-old has a protein food, a grain, a vegetable and fruit, with milk or yogurt alongside, in portions much smaller than yours. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sample dinner for a preschooler is 2 oz of meat, fish or chicken, ½ cup of pasta, rice or potato, ¼ cup of vegetable and ½ cup of milk.¹

That menu was planned for a 4-year-old of about 36 lb, and the AAP’s guide covers ages 4 and 5 together,¹² so the same foods suit both 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds. A bigger or more active child may eat more, and a smaller one less.

Which foods should you offer?

The AAP’s advice is simple: offer a range of healthy foods.² Here is what that range looks like:

• Protein: beans, chicken, turkey, fish, lean hamburger, tofu and eggs.² Children aged 4 to 8 need about 19 g of protein a day, which a protein food at each meal and milk or yogurt in between can help cover.⁵ Our protein guide for school-age kids has more.
• Grains: whole-grain cereals and bread are the AAP’s suggestions.²
• Fruit and vegetables: fresh fruit and vegetables, in whatever form your child will eat them.² The AAP’s sample day includes ½ cup of fruit at breakfast and as a snack, and ¼ cup of a dark-yellow or dark-green vegetable at lunch.¹ Fiber for ages 4 to 8 is set at 25 g a day;⁵ our fiber guide shows how to get there.
• Milk and yogurt: milk provides calcium and vitamin D to build strong bones.² The AAP suggests nonfat or low-fat milk for children over 2.³

What does a whole day of food look like?

The AAP’s sample day gives each meal a shape:

Butter, margarine or dressing is optional; the AAP says to give only 1 to 2 teaspoons.¹ For a full day and a week of dinners built the same way, see what a 5-year-old should eat in a day and our 5-year-old meal ideas.

What about snacks and drinks?

A growing preschooler needs 1 to 2 healthy snacks every day.⁶ Fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy are the AAP’s suggestions.⁶ If your child likes dip with fruit or vegetables, the AAP suggests limiting it to 2 tablespoons.⁶

Snacks work best as small meals rather than filler. In the AAP’s sample day, the morning snack is milk, fruit and yogurt, and the afternoon snack is a teaspoon of peanut butter on bread, 5 crackers, string cheese or cut-up fruit.¹ Notice that string cheese appears on the AAP’s menu and also on its choking list, so cut it into small pieces for your child.⁴

For drinks, 16–24 oz (2–3 cups) of cow’s milk a day is the AAP’s range for ages 2 to 5, with water between (8–40 oz).³ Juice is optional, capped at 4 to 6 oz a day at ages 4 to 5, and the AAP says eating fruit is better than drinking it.³⁶ Flavored milk is best avoided because of added sugars,³ and the AAP says the most important thing is to limit sugary drinks.² See how much juice a child should drink for more.

Are some healthy foods still choking hazards?

Yes. The AAP advises keeping the riskiest foods away until age 4 or older, depending on each child’s development and maturity, so many 5-year-olds can manage them, but only when prepared safely.⁴ Its list includes hot dogs, nuts and seeds, whole grapes, raw vegetables like carrot sticks, raw fruit chunks like apple pieces, popcorn, chunks of cheese or meat, and thick nut butter.⁴

How to serve them:

• Round, firm foods like hot dogs and grapes only when completely chopped into tiny pieces.⁴
• Everything else cut into pieces no larger than one-half inch.⁴
• Nut butter spread thinly, never in thick spoonfuls.⁴
• Seated, always. No running, walking, playing or lying down with food in the mouth.⁴

How much should they actually eat?

These portions are a starting point, not a quota. The AAP’s feeding guide says to let children choose their own portion sizes,² and an appetite that swings from one meal to the next is normal. A child who ate little at lunch may eat a lot at the afternoon snack, so judge the pattern over several days rather than one plate.

A useful way to use the menu above is as a shape rather than a recipe. Each meal has a protein or dairy food, a grain, and some fruit or vegetable, and the snacks reuse the same building blocks.¹ If you serve that shape most days, the details can vary as much as your child likes.

What if they won’t eat the healthy stuff?

Pickiness is common, and the AAP’s advice is calm: offer regular meal and snack times, sit together, let children choose their own portion sizes and don’t pressure them to eat.² Something your child refuses this week may be a favorite next week, so keep offering it.⁶ If dinner is a battle, our guides to 4-year-olds who won’t eat anything and 5-year-old picky eater recipes have next steps.

When to talk to your pediatrician

Don’t start vitamins or supplements without asking first. Your pediatrician can tell you whether your child needs anything beyond food.

Common questions