Eggs at any age

A healthy, balanced diet and good nutrition are the building blocks of life. Eggs are full of essential vitamins and minerals that play an important role in providing a healthy, balanced diet.

Here’s a guide of how nutritional requirements can change at different ages and the important role eggs can play in meeting those needs.

Growing Children

Eating a variety of nutritious foods helps meet requirements for growth and activity. Sometimes children can be fussy eaters, limiting the types and amounts of foods they eat in a day. When this occurs it's important to provide foods with maximum nutritional value.

Eggs are great to include in children's diets as they provide 11 different vitamins and minerals along with the best quality protein for growing, active bodies. Eggs also provide important antioxidants that help protect the eyes and skin from damage. Their great taste and soft texture also makes them popular with children.

Here are some more reasons why eggs are full of goodness for growing children:

  • One serve of eggs provides 64% of the recommended daily intake of protein for children aged 4-8, 32% for boys aged 9-13 and 36% for girls aged 9-13
  • Eggs provide essential nutrients for growth and development such as protein, unsaturated fats, and vitamins and minerals, plus they’re naturally low in salt.
  • Eggs provide useful amounts of nutrients, such as iron and zinc, which are often low in many children’s diets.
  • One serve of eggs provides around 20% of the recommended dietary intake of folate for children. Folate is essential for the growth and maintenance of healthy cells.
  • One serve of eggs provides around one-third of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin A for children. Vitamin A is essential for growth and eye health.

Healthy Eating Guidelines for Children

Current guidelines regarding healthy eating for children recommend the majority of foods eaten daily come from the five core food groups.

  • bread, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles. Aim to include these foods at each meal
  • vegetables and legumes - includes cooked and raw vegetables, salads, potato, dried beans, peas or lentils. Aim to include these foods at lunch and dinner
  • fruit - includes fresh, canned, dried and juice. Choose fruit more often than juice and encourage children to eat the skin as it is a useful source of fibre. Aim for at least 2 pieces of fruit daily
  • milk, cheese and yoghurt - reduced fat varieties are recommended for children over 2 years of age.  Aim for 2-3 servings a day
  • meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and legumes .  Aim for 1-2 servings daily.

Foods with lots of kilojoules without many nutrients, like cakes, pastries, confectionery, potato crisps and soft drinks can be included as occasional foods in children's diets for added enjoyment.

Teenagers

Teenage years are filled a variety of increasingly busy activities including social events, work and study. This often results in irregular eating patterns. Teenagers can have a tendency to skip breakfast and rely on snacks to provide adequate energy and nutrients, favouring convenience over nutrition.

As their lives become busier teenagers' nutrition requirements grow. Important nutrients at this stage of life include iron, folate, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, vitamin A and zinc. With the exception of calcium, eggs are a valuable source of each of these nutrients which makes them a very useful inclusion in a teenager's diet.

Of all age groups, teenagers are one of the most likely to have inadequate nutrient intakes. A recent survey showed around 1 in 5 teenage girls have inadequate intakes of vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc. Vitamin A is needed for healthy skin and eyes while calcium is particularly important at this age to lay the foundations for strong bones. Iron is needed for energy production and zinc is needed for a healthy immune and reproductive system. It's vitally important that people are aware of the types of foods that contain these nutrients.

Healthy eating tips for teenagers

In order to eat well for maximum performance and concentration, keep the following healthy eating tips in mind.

  • Start the day with a healthy breakfast.Try a boiled egg on wholegrain toast or made into a toasted sandwich. For a quick breakfast on the run, make a fruit smoothie or grab a banana and some raisin bread.
  • Carry healthy snacks with you to make sure you always have something on hand. This can be particularly important if you rush from study to work or sports. Try dried fruit, unsalted nuts, low fat muesli bars or wholegrain crackers. These are all portable, no mess, nutritious snacks.
  • Eat small amounts frequently rather than skipping meals.
  • Avoid crash and fad diets.They can result in low energy levels, lack of concentration and low nutrient intakes. Instead, if you are concerned about your weight, increase your physical activity level, reduce your intake of takeaways, cakes, biscuits, soft drinks and fried foods. Instead, eat a variety of healthy, nutritious foods throughout the day and carefully manage portion sizes.
  • Have a range of quick, healthy meals you can prepare yourself. Eggs provide the basis for a range of quick meals like scrambled eggs, omelettes, frittatas or boiled and added to a salad.

Adults

Our nutritional requirements change with age. As we grow older, eggs become a more beneficial part of a healthy diet. Nutrients that are commonly low in the diet of older Australians include fibre, calcium, vitamins A, E, B6, B12, folate, vitamin C and the minerals iron, magnesium and zinc.

There are a number of age-related changes that influence nutritional requirements and become significant for people over 65 years.

  • A decreased immune function results in an increased need for vitamins B6, E and zinc.
  • Decreased gastric acid production leads to an increased need for vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium, iron and zinc and an increase in oxidative stress status results in an increased need for carotenoids, vitamin C and vitamin E. In addition, immobile elderly people spend less time outdoors, leading to an increased need for food sources of vitamin D.
  • One serve of eggs provides vitamin B12 (58% RDI), folate (13% RDI), iron (21% RDI), vitamin E (10-14% RDI) and vitamin D (6% AI).
  • The majority of older Australians do not meet the RDI for vitamins A and E5 and eggs can provide a useful contribution to meeting requirements with one serve providing 18-24% RDI for vitamin A and 10-14% RDI for vitamin E.
  • The incidence of heart related problems is highest in older Australians.9,10 Eggs are a source of omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to have benefits for the heart and blood vessels.
  • Eggs contain the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin which have been shown to be associated with lower rates of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).12,13 AMD is the leading cause of blindness in older Australians.

Pregnant Mums

Pregnancy requires a change in diet. Eggs are a nutritious inclusion.
Pregnancy increases the need for key nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, energy, protein, and vitamins and minerals, including folate, calcium, iron and zinc 1. Eggs can help meet these increased needs. For example, eggs are a particularly good source of folate, one serve providing the same amount as a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

  • One serve of eggs provides around half of the extra kilojoules required during pregnancy While providing all of the extra protein required.
  • Eggs also provide useful amounts of nutrients that assist in reaching the increased requirements for iron, folate and zinc.
  • Eggs can be a particularly useful inclusion in the diet of pregnant vegetarian women as they provide the ideal complement of all essential amino acids needed for growth and development.
  • One serve of eggs provides 30% of the additional RDI for zinc during pregnancy.
  • One serve of eggs provides over 50% of the daily requirements for vitamin B12 during pregnancy.
  • One serve of eggs provides 100% of the additional vitamin B12 requirements during pregnancy.
  • Regular inclusion of omega-3 enriched eggs in the diet of breast feeding mothers can significantly improve the omega-3 status of the infants.2 This in turn may have significant benefits for development of visual and brain function.
  • Choline is required for the normal development of brain tissue in infants.Eggs provide almost 100% of the recommendations for choline during pregnancy.