You have probably heard the various news pieces expressing worry about today’s kids and their lack of health. Obesity, hypertension, and other issues have been brought up as indicators of poor nutrition. Teaching our kids about the importance of health and the right and wrong kinds of food will help them become better aware of their own wellbeing. This type of education should be done both at home and at school with nutrition lesson plans.
If you are teacher looking for ideas about nutrition lesson plans, there are plenty of possibilities. There are lessons for every age group – it is never too early for kids to learn good eating habits – and for all sorts of mediums, including the Internet. As a teacher, you can make use of the Internet to find different nutrition lesson plans, but here are a few ideas to get you started:
- The Food Pyramid – Update this classic nutrition tool with different approaches such as visual aids, games, and calculations of daily intake of fats, proteins, vitamins, etc. With the last suggestion, students will learn information about healthy eating and practice their math skills as well by computing class averages.
- Healthy Snack Day – Students would be assigned a certain group of the food pyramid and would then have to bring in a nutritious snack that fits in that area. Your lesson could vary, but one method would be to have the kids list what snacks they normally eat (chips, candy, etc.) and what group each snack would be from. A lesson/discussion about why junk food is not healthy would be helpful as well.
- Junk Food Assessment – Most kids don’t know why junk food is so bad, so a lesson similar to the last part of the suggestion above would be appropriate. Analyze the quantity of fat, protein, calories, vitamins, etc. in a variety of items (both healthy and not), as well as the school’s lunch menu to see if it is up to nutritional standards.
- Nutritious Meals – For older students, being able to prepare a healthy, nutritious meal for their family could be an excellent way for them to learn. Discuss in class various recipes students would be encouraged to use, but let them design the final meal plan. Give them a basic outline for a complete meal; a meat dish, a salad and vegetable(s), a bread, a dessert, and a beverage. To go more in depth, require that the students write out everything that would be associated with the meal, including all ingredients and utensils used, time allotted for preparation, table settings, and their family’s reactions.
- Vegetarianism – Nutrition lesson plans should include at least some mention of this rising interest. Discussion of the pros and cons could be displayed in a variety of ways, such as another food day with items that fulfill every group of the food pyramid.
- Eating Disorders – One way to approach this sensitive subject is have the students participate in role-playing scenarios in which they encounter a friend who has an eating disorder.
By Monica Drusch