Food
Regular meals and varied food give the brain and body steady energy to manage the rest of the plate.
The page in brief
- The brain needs steady energy all day.
- Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
- Eat lots of vegetables, fruit and wholegrains.
- Drink water. Fizzy drinks and squash have a lot of sugar.
- Energy drinks have a lot of caffeine. It can disturb your sleep.
- Sweets and cake are fine sometimes. It is everyday eating that matters.
- Worried about an eating disorder? Talk to the school nurse or a health centre, or call 1177.
Why is food so important?
The brain makes up only a couple of per cent of the body’s weight but uses about a fifth of the energy we burn at rest. That is why what we eat, and when we eat, affects how much energy we have and how we think and feel.
If too much time passes between meals, many people become tired, unfocused and irritable. That is why food lies like a ring around the whole plate.
The Swedish Food Agency’s dietary advice
500grams
of fruit and vegetables a day, or more, for children over 10, young people and adults
Children aged 4–10 need about 400 grams, for example two pieces of fruit and two good handfuls of vegetables.
Every day
Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a good snack in between.
Two to three times a week
Fish. Mix oily and lean kinds.
If you eat vegetarian
Replace meat and fish with beans, lentils, peas or tofu, and use rapeseed oil. Without dairy, you need fortified plant drinks and vitamin B12.
Wholegrain and the Keyhole symbol
Wholegrain keeps you full for a long time. The Keyhole symbol marks food with less sugar and salt and more fibre.
With meals
Water or low-fat milk. Save fizzy drinks and squash for special occasions.
Small swaps in everyday life
One swap is enough to start with, ideally at breakfast.
- White toast swap for Wholegrain bread or bread with the Keyhole symbol
- Jam or marmalade on your bread swap for Cheese, cottage cheese, egg or unsweetened peanut butter
- Fruit yoghurt swap for Plain yoghurt with berries or fruit
- Sweetened cereal swap for Porridge or muesli with the Keyhole symbol
- Sweets as a snack swap for Fruit, nuts, a wholegrain sandwich or carrots
What does not work?
Skipping meals
Without breakfast or lunch, it is harder to keep going and concentrate.
Energy drinks and a lot of caffeine
Caffeine can disturb sleep. Young people under 16 should have no more than 70 milligrams a day, and sometimes a third of a can is enough to reach that.
Bans and talk about weight
Strict rules and comments about the body make food a loaded subject.
What works?
Eat together
Shared meals give you food and conversation. It does not have to be every day.
Keep snacks at home
With fruit, nuts or a sandwich within reach, it is easy to choose something filling.
See the big picture
It is everyday eating that matters. Cake at parties is part of life too.
If you are worried about an eating disorder
The advice on this page is general and does not suit someone who has an eating disorder. An eating disorder needs care, and it is possible to recover.
Signs can include thoughts about food, weight and the body taking up a lot of space, or someone skipping meals, avoiding eating with others or exercising compulsively.
Seek help as early as possible. Children and young people can turn to the school health service, a youth clinic, a health centre or child and adolescent psychiatry (BUP). Adults can turn to a health centre. Call 1177 for advice on where to seek care, and 112 in an emergency.
Show that you care about how the person is feeling, without comments about their body or appearance. Say what you see without judging, for example “I can see that you are skipping meals. Do you want to talk about it?” Offer to go with them to their appointments.
- 1177 on eating disordersSigns, treatment and where to seek care (in Swedish)
- 1177 for relativesHow to support someone and get support yourself (in Swedish)
- UMO on eating disordersFor young people aged 13–25 (in Swedish)
- Frisk & FriChat, phone and email for people affected and for relatives (in Swedish)
Talk with your child
Open questions make it easier to talk about everyday life without it turning into an interrogation.
“Think of an ordinary weekday – what does a normal day of eating look like? Start from when you wake up.”
“Think of an ordinary weekday – what about sweets, squash, fizzy drinks or energy drinks? How often do you have them?”
Show that you are curious, ask open questions and listen to understand. Many people feel ashamed of their eating habits, so talk about energy and balance, not weight or appearance.
The questions come from Det syns inte’s conversation material “Må bra samtal” (feel-good conversations).
Want to work with this at school?
Det syns inte is a school programme about mental health, the brain and life with screens. It is built on drama films and research, and is used by teachers, mentors and school health teams together with the students. The programme’s website is in Swedish.