Healthy eating will bear fruit

Until now, there had been little known about what young Australian children were actually eating and no studies had checked diet against growth parameters and blood samples.

Dr Zhou studied 300 Adelaide preschool children and found they were eating adequate amounts of most nutrients but they were lacking in fibre and omega-3 fatty acids.

They were also eating too much saturated fat, from foods such as sausages and chicken skin.

The research is published tomorrow in the Medical Journal of Australia.

"Simple things parents can do is choose wholegrain bread and cereal, instead of white bread," she said.

"Give children fresh fruit and vegetables, rather than fruit juice because fruit juice doesn't have as much fibre.

"The best source of omega 3 is oily fish such as tuna but also lean meat contains some, or eggs and nuts. Fish is the key source."

Institute director Dr Maria Makrides said the result was "surprising".

"We were actually seeing that very traditional adult pattern really entrenched in children from the age of about two," she said.

"That was what I think has really come out of that survey. But in terms of their other nutritional status, there was no iron deficiency really, they had good B12 status, good zinc status, all the things you worry about in children were actually just fine."