Healthy weight
Having a nutritious, well-balanced diet is important for overall health and for keeping a healthy weight. This means eating a diet that is based on the five food groups in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, which are:
fruit
vegetables and legumes/bean
grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties
lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans, and
milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.
Consuming too many discretionary foods like chocolate and sugar-sweetened drinks, and not being active enough is the main reason people tend to gain weight. Discretionary foods, including chocolate, are readily available in everyday life and larger portions such as ‘king-size’ chocolate bars have changed our perception of what is an appropriate amount of chocolate to eat.
Chocolate is energy dense, which means it contains a lot of kilojoules (or energy) for its weight. An appropriate serving size of chocolate is around 25 grams, which is half a small chocolate bar or one-tenth of a ‘family’ block of chocolate. If you enjoy the taste of chocolate, try a cup of hot chocolate made with low-fat or skim milk as an alternative.
It would be wrong to say that eating chocolate will always lead to weight gain. A person with a healthy diet who is physically active can safely eat small serves of discretionary foods such as chocolate, without fear of weight gain.