NICE Guidelines for Obesity

What should I do to help maintain a healthy weight?

NICE recommends eating a healthy diet, which means you and your family should:

• base your meals on starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, rice and pasta, choosing wholegrain where possible
• eat plenty of fibre-rich foods such as oats, beans, peas, lentils, grains, seeds, fruit and vegetables, as well as wholegrain bread, and brown rice and pasta
• eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day in place of foods higher in fat and calories
• avoid foods containing a lot of fat and sugar, such as fried food, sweetened drinks, sweets and chocolate. (Some takeaways and ‘fast’ foods contain a lot of fat and sugar)
• eat breakfast
• watch the portion sizes of meals and snacks, and how often you are eating
• avoid taking in too many calories from alcohol.

NICE also recommends that small everyday changes to your activity levels can make a real difference. You don’t have to join a gym or sports club (although it can help). For example, you can:

• try walking or cycling to the shops
• avoid sitting for too long in front of the television, at a computer or playing video games. You could try gradually reducing how long you sit down in front of a screen by setting some time limits.

Adults could try to build physical activity into the working day. For example, by taking the stairs instead of the lift, or going for a walk at lunchtime.

The guideline also sets out how parents can help their children maintain a healthy weight. For example, parents can encourage children to play games that involve moving around a lot like skipping, dancing, running or ball games. Families should also try to be more active, by walking or cycling to school and the shops, or going swimming or to the local park together.

NICE Guidelines