This is our hub for family wellbeing — the practical, day-to-day decisions that go into raising a happy, healthy family. We keep it useful, UK-specific and free of diet-industry noise.
The current focus is the eating decisions families actually make: how much sugar your children should really be having, what hides in food labels, lunchboxes that get eaten rather than thrown away, and how to navigate fussy-eating phases without it dominating the kitchen. The wider healthy family agenda — sleep, screens, family exercise, mealtime routines — will follow as the section grows.
If you’re looking for what to cook, our recipes hub sits alongside this one with the bakes, mains, sweet things and drinks we cook for our own family. The two hubs cross-link where they should — for example, our sugar visualisation guide bridges directly into the recipes hub for lower-sugar bakes that don’t taste like a compromise.
Healthy Eating
What makes a good Children’s Menu?
When I’m out with the family and we’re looking for somewhere to eat the quality of the kids…
Is There a Place for Salt? Notes from BBC Food Programme.
Is There a Place for Salt?The Food Programme from April 23rd 2018 Salt has long been prized, but…
Lower-sugar lunchbox swaps: a school-week plan that still gets eaten
A simple, realistic week of lunchbox swaps that cut added sugar without relying on brand-name products. Parent-tested, school-friendly,…
Sugar Awareness
What does 30g of sugar look like?
The NHS in the UK recommends that we consume no more than 30g of sugar a day. This…
10 foods with more sugar than you’d expect
Ten everyday UK foods that contain more sugar than most shoppers assume — pasta sauce, yoghurt, baked beans,…
Natural vs added sugar: does it actually matter?
Natural sugar, added sugar, free sugar — what the words actually mean under UK guidance, why fruit is…
Reduced-sugar baking: 6 easy swaps that actually work
Six reduced-sugar baking swaps that actually work in family weekend bakes — including the one simple change that…
How long does it take to burn off 30g of sugar? Walking, Pilates, hot yoga and CrossFit
30g of sugar = 120 kcal. For a 70kg adult that's 31 minutes walking, 12 minutes running, 34…
How much sugar is in breakfast cereal? A parent’s guide to reading the box
UK breakfast cereals range from 0.4g to 37g of sugar per 100g. Here's how to read the box…
Sugar by another name: 40+ terms to look for on UK food labels
Sugar appears on UK labels under more than 40 different names. The complete glossary — grouped so you…
¿Qué aspecto tienen 30 gramos de azúcar? Guía visual
Una guía visual de qué aspecto tienen 30 gramos de azúcar — el límite diario que recomienda la…
Where this section is heading
Family wellbeing is a wider conversation than just food. Over the next few months we’ll expand this section into mealtime routines, building healthy eating habits without arguments, and the kind of low-effort changes that actually stick. Expect honest, parent-tested guidance — written from a family kitchen, not a clinical one.
Getting the family moving
Family exercise is the half of wellbeing that never survives a rainy Tuesday, so we are less interested in step counts than in outings the whole family will actually agree to. Swimming is the reliable one: it tires children out properly, it works from toddler to grandparent in the same session, and nobody has to be persuaded twice.
Britain has quietly rebuilt its open-air swimming culture over the past twenty years, and a heated lido is one of the cheapest active days out you can plan — a few pounds a head, a lawn to spread a towel on, and a café for afterwards. Our region-by-region directory of UK lidos and open-air swimming pools lists which are heated, which are free, and which suit small children best, from Lido Ponty in Pontypridd to the geothermal Jubilee Pool at Penzance.
Frequently asked questions
What does “happy healthy family” actually mean?
Less guilt, more practical decisions. We frame it around the small, repeated choices a family makes — lunchboxes, weekend breakfasts, sugar limits, what gets dropped on the table at the end of a long day. Not perfection, just the habits worth keeping.
What’s the difference between this section and the recipes hub?
Recipes are the cooking; this section is the why. If you want what to make for tea, head to our recipes hub. If you want to make sense of food labels, sugar limits or fussy-eating without the diet-industry spin, you’re in the right place here.
How much sugar should children actually be having?
NHS guidance caps free sugars at 19g/day for 4–6-year-olds, 24g/day for 7–10-year-olds and 30g/day for 11+. Most UK breakfast cereals already hit half a daily limit per bowl — our sugar visualisation guide shows what those grams look like in real terms.
Are these guides UK-specific?
Yes. We use NHS guidance for sugar/salt limits, UK food labels, UK supermarket products and UK price points. Where international advice differs (US/EU recommendations are sometimes more lenient), we flag it.
Is this nutrition advice?
It’s practical guidance from a family that cooks every day, written in the spirit of “here’s what we do and why.” For clinical nutrition advice tailored to a specific medical situation, please see your GP or a registered dietitian.
Will more topics be added — sleep, exercise, screen time?
Yes. The current focus is family eating decisions because that’s where we have the most ground covered. Behavioural and lifestyle topics (sleep routines, screen-time, family exercise) are the next sections we’ll build out.
Family days out worth doing, gardening jobs worth knowing, recipes worth keeping.