Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Meal Plan

What should children and adults aim to eat in a healthy meal plan?

There are many similarities between the healthy diets of adults and children. The goal of a healthy diet is to consistently eat a variety of foods that provide important nutrients, such as fibre, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and protein, while avoiding foods that contain too many carbohydrates, added sugar, sodium and saturated fats.

The key difference between a meal plan for children and adults is portion sizes. The Australian Dietary Guidelines provide two healthy eating guides that outline these differences here and here.

Adults

Number of servings for each food group

Children

Number of servings for each food group

Standard Serving Sizes

• A standard serve of vegetables is about 75g (100-350kJ) or: 
  • ½ cup cooked green or orange vegetables (for example, broccoli, spinach, carrots or pumpkin) 
  • ½ cup cooked dried or canned beans, peas or lentils 
  • 1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables 
  • ½ cup sweet corn 
  • ½ medium potato or other starchy vegetables (sweet potato, taro or cassava) 
  • 1 medium tomato
• A standard serve of fruit is about 150g (350kJ) or: 
  • 1 medium apple, banana, orange or pear 
  • 2 small apricots, kiwi fruits or plums 
  • 1 cup diced or canned fruit (with no added sugar) 
  • Or only occasionally: 125ml (½ cup) fruit juice (with no added sugar) 30g dried fruit (for example, 4 dried apricot halves, 1½ tablespoons of sultanas)
• A standard serve of grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties (500kJ) is: 
  • 1 slice (40g) bread 
  • ½ medium (40g) roll or flat bread 
  • ½ cup (75–120g) cooked rice, pasta, noodles, barley, buckwheat, semolina, polenta, bulgur or quinoa 
  • ½ cup (120g) cooked porridge 
  • ²/³ cup (30g) wheat cereal flakes 
  • ¼ cup (30g) muesli 
  • 3 (35g) crispbreads 
  • 1 (60g) crumpet 
  • 1 small (35g) English muffin or scone
• A standard serve of lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans (500-600kJ) is:
  • 65g cooked lean meats such as beef, lamb, veal, pork, goat or kangaroo (about 90–100g raw)*
  • 80g cooked lean poultry such as chicken or turkey (100g raw)
  • 100g cooked fish fillet (about 115g raw weight) or one small can of fish
  • 2 large (120g) eggs
  • 1 cup (150g) cooked or canned legumes/beans such as lentils, chick peas or split peas (no added salt)
  • 170g tofu
  • 30g nuts, seeds, peanut or almond butter or tahini or other nut or seed paste
• A standard serve of milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives, mostly reduced fat (500-600kJ) is: 
  • 1 cup (250ml) fresh, UHT long life, reconstituted powdered milk or buttermilk 
  • ½ cup (120ml) evaporated milk 
  • 2 slices (40g) or 4 x 3 x 2cm cube (40g) of hard cheese, such as cheddar 
  • ½ cup (120g) ricotta cheese 
  • ¾ cup (200g) yoghurt 1 cup (250ml) soy, rice or other cereal drink with at least 100mg of added calcium per 100ml

What is an example of a type 2 diabetes meal plan?

In order to make a meal plan to help prevent type 2 diabetes, you need a toolkit of healthy recipes that you can then use as inspiration based on your personal and cultural preferences and needs. The Life! program provides a number of healthy recipes to help you create a healthy meal plan that is going to work for you.

Below, we’ve put an example of a healthy meal plan for a day, with healthy recipes for every meal.

Breakfast

Healthy berry bircher muesli

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats, uncooked
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 1 cup unsweetened apple juice
• 1 cup water
• 2 apples, core removed, coarsely grated with skin on
• 2/3 cup low-fat natural yoghurt
• 2 cups strawberries or other berries, fresh or thawed from frozen

Method

1. Place oats, sultanas, juice and water in a 2-litre container with a lid.
2. Mix to combine, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
3. Just before serving, stir in apple and yoghurt and top with berries.

Lunch

Healthy gourmet vegetarian sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 slices thick wholegrain bread
• 2 tsp basil pesto
• 1 cup baby spinach, rocket or butter lettuce leaves
• 2 small tomatoes, sliced
• 1/4 cup fat-free semi-sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1/4 cup marinated artichokes (97% fat-free), drained and chopped
• 1/4 small red capsicum, thinly sliced
• 8 basil leaves, roughly torn
• 4 slices reduced-fat Swiss cheese

Method

1. Spread 2 slices of bread with pesto.
2. Place half of the remaining ingredients on each slice before finishing with the remaining slices of bread.
3. Cut sandwich in half.

Dinner

Healthy crab salad with noodles

Ingredients

• 200 g dried rice vermicelli or bean thread noodles
• 1 continental or 2 large Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways
• 1 red capsicum, deseeded, thinly sliced
• 4 spring onions (including green tops), thinly sliced
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves , roughly chopped
• 250 g cooked crab meat
• coriander leaves , extra, to serve
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced, to serve (optional)
• For the dressing:
• 2 tbs fresh ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbs sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 3 tbs fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Place noodles in a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 5 minutes to soften.
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining ginger, garlic, sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sesame oil in a cup; mix and set aside.
3. Drain noodles, refresh under cold water then drain well and place in a large bowl; pour over dressing and toss to combine.
4. Using a teaspoon, discard seeds from cucumber then slice thinly on the diagonal and add to noodles along with capsicum, spring onions, beans sprouts and coriander. Mix to combine salad ingredients.
5. Serve onto plates and top each dish with crab meat.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and red chilli, if desired.

Can the Life! program help me create a meal plan?

If you’re looking to prevent type 2 diabetes, the Life! program will help you create a meal plan. You’ll gain the recipes and the knowledge necessary to eat a healthy diet.

Life! is a free healthy lifestyle program that helps you improve your eating habits, increase your physical activity and manage stress. You can choose from a group course or the telephone health coaching service.

Our experienced health professionals will help you make small changes to your lifestyle so that you can achieve your health goals and reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The Life! program is funded by the Victorian government and managed by Diabetes Victoria. You can check your eligibility for the program here.

Take the health check

Sources

https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/healthy-eating-for-adults.pdf

https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/healthy-eating-for-children.pdf 

https://lifeprogram.org.au/health-hub/

Reviewers:

Elleni Kaias, Accredited Practicing Dietitian | Primary Care Engagement Lead

Kristie Cocotis, Head of Prevention and Health Promotion

Sarah Dubé, Strategy and Engagement Lead

Ria Cheripuram, Digital Communications Officer

Tegan Kohlman, Communications and Social Marketing Officer