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Nutrition 4 you

Wynnie Chan

Name: Amily Lam

Age: 17

Breakfast at home: Biscuits or cookies, or Chinese bun with ham or cheese, a cup of milk

Snack: Carton of lemon tea

Lunch at school: Rice box with different toppings (usually meat), Chinese vegetables shared with friends or instant noodles with beef ball, Chinese sausage, water

Snack at home: Chocolate or crisps, carton of apple drink

Dinner at home: Bowl of white rice, bowl of canned soup, boiled Chinese vegetables, Chinese roast pork (bought from shop), orange, watermelon

Water throughout the day.

Eating out: Lunch with friends at the weekend, usually chooses pasta carbonara and iced chocolate drink

Lifestyle: Plays netball and volleyball at school for about an hour a day. Takes modern dance lessons at weekend, practises around two to three hours a day when there's a performance.

Nutritionist says: Amily leads a busy life. If she's not studying for exams, she can be found at her local dance school preparing for performances throughout the year.

Her hectic schedule is reflected in the foods she eats, especially those chosen for breakfast and afternoon snack.

Quick and convenient breakfast items can be healthy. Great choices include fruit smoothies or a wholemeal sandwich with peanut butter and banana. Both can be prepared the night before and kept in the fridge ready to go.

Similarly, after-school snacks can be both quick and nutritious. A bowl of cereal with milk or a sliced mango easily fills the gap before dinner.

Choosing healthier foods at lunchtime proves challenging for Amily. Rice box meals or noodle soups are often accompanied by a solitary stalk of choi sum or kai lan, but she knows the importance of including vegetables in her meals so usually orders a plate of Chinese vegetables to share with friends.

Although Amily enjoys the occasional pasta meal at weekends, she eats a predominantly Chinese diet which means a lack of wholegrains and dietary fibre.

To boost the fibre content of her meals, Amily could encourage her family to replace their normal white rice at dinner with either red or brown rice, or a mix of brown and white rice.

It can be difficult to change immediately from white rice to an unrefined version as the texture is often harder and much chewier.

Wholegrain foods include wholegrain wheat, oats, brown rice and rye.

Lots of ready to eat foods are rich in wholegrains, such as Weetabix, muesli, wholemeal breads and pasta.

Health experts recommend two servings of wholegrains every day.

Try unsweetened wholegrain cereal bars as a snack or swap white bread with wholemeal when making sandwiches or toast.

If you love cream crackers with cheese, tickle your taste buds with oatcakes instead.

Wynnie Chan is a British trained nutritionist. If you've got a question for her, or would like to be featured in this column, e-mail [email protected]

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