For those following a vegetarian diet, recommended intakes for the dairy food group, which includes milk, cheese and yoghurt, are the same as for those who do not follow a vegetarian diet.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines, developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, provide recommendations about the amount and kinds of foods that we need to eat for health and wellbeing, based on the latest available scientific evidence.

Recommendations for the dairy food group vary according to age and gender. A five-year-old should consume between 1.5 and 2 serves of milk, cheese, yoghurt and/or alternatives each day.

A serve of milk is 250mL (1 cup); a serve of cheese is 40g (two slices) of hard cheese, or half a cup of ricotta cheese; and a serve of yoghurt is 200g (3/4 cup).

For more information about the recommended serves, visit Eat For Health.

References

National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2013.