[Music] to grow healthy you have to learn eating all kinds of different foods this should include fruits vegetables and whole grain cereals as well as protein foods such as meat fish dairy eggs nuts seeds and pulses look let me show you when i was born it was important for my health and immune system that my mum breastfed me from six months as well as breastfeeding me my mum also started introducing me to all kinds of different healthy foods this meant i was eating a great variety of foods just like mum and dad and so got all of the protein calories vitamins fiber and minerals i needed as well as being fun experimenting with lots of healthy foods eating foods like peanuts and egg early on helped to stop me becoming allergic to them i thought everyone ate like i did but i noticed some of my friends like kathy always preferred to eat the same food whereas my lunchbox was always full of different foods i knew that a healthy diet should have variety with fruits vegetables and whole grains being the most important foods so why didn't everyone eat this way i couldn't understand how eating only a limited number of foods could be healthy our teacher explained how all of the different nutrients and foods including protein healthy fats vitamins fiber and minerals could affect our immune system she also told us that the balance of different bacteria in our gut is called the microbiota eating lots of healthy foods helps our microbiota by providing the right fuel for the good bacteria in our gut so trying many different healthy foods early on and avoiding unhealthy foods high in fat and sugar gives our immune system the best start in life and helps prevent allergic diseases just like a bus needs not only fuel but also oil and water to run properly so to keep our microbiota healthy we don't just need calories and protein we also need vitamins fiber iron calcium and micronutrients a healthy microbiota and the early introduction of foods also helps our immune system not to see these foods as a threat my friend kathy's diet has always been limited so not only is she missing out on important nutrients her restricted diet might also affect her gut microbiota because i have always eaten a good variety of healthy foods since i was a baby my gut microbiota are healthy and i'm less likely to get allergies so as i got older i experienced even more different foods which helped me get stronger mindful resilient and certain about what is good for me so now it's your turn to experience even more than i did open wide for more information see the eaci website for details patience.eaaci.org