Nutrition: A Mini Unit
This unit will help you learn about making healthier food choices using interesting projects and age appropriate activities.
1. Familiarize yourself with the Food Pyramid. Draw a picture of the pyramid, include the number of servings for each type of food and the kinds of food in each section.
2. Plan a menu for your family for two weeks, choosing foods from the food pyramid. Substitute healthy foods, such as fruit, yogurt, and juice, for foods high in fat and processed sugar, salt and caffeine. Discuss the menu with your family prior to trying it, then again at the end of the first week. Incorporate changes into the following week’s menu.
3. Water is the “perfect” drink. Your body requires water to operate properly. Almost all foods and beverages contain water; however, this alone won’t provide the amount of water your body needs. Get a water bottle and make sure and consume at least 8 glasses of water per day. Do this for two weeks. Do you notice a difference in how you feel?
4. Find out the role cholesterol plays in physical health. Learn the difference between LDLs and HDLs. Make a list of foods high in cholesterol or high in fats. Develop a list of substitutes for the high cholesterol and/or high fat foods.
5. Learn how to read food labels for fat content.
6. Collect recipes on a theme or interest, such as vegetarian soups or sugar-free desserts. Illustrate the recipes and organize them into a cookbook.
7. Vitamins and minerals are essential to health. They are in food and also available in dietary supplements. Make a poster or chart that lists vitamins and minerals, their functions in the human body, and which foods contain them.
8. How large a role does media (such as magazines, movies, television) and advertising play in defining the modern body image? How might this influence the types and numbers of eating disorders?
9. Learn about eating disorders. What are some of the symptoms? What should you do if you know someone who seems to have an eating disorder? Create a poster or awareness campaign to promote healthy body image.
10. Find at least five resources online to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Why keywords did you use in your search. You might try www.google.com for a place to do your search.
11. Visit a grocery store and compare the packaging, contents, and price of at least four different products. Be sure and read the label on the packaging for nutrition information.
12. What is insulin? What function does it have in your body? Having diabetes means that your body doesn’t make enough or process food properly. Learn about the two major types of diabetes: juvenile (Type I) and late (Type II). What are the warning signs of diabetes? How does diabetes affect the way a person needs to eat?
13. Create a puppet show for younger children that addresses the issue of healthy eating.
14. Participate in a food drive. Help put food boxes together after the food drive is complete. What food combinations were you able to make? Remember to try and put a healthy variety in each box.
15. Learn about different foods that are eaten and not eaten for strongly held religious or dietary beliefs. Determine if events you attend are inclusive to these groups or not.
16. Make a list of four to six careers related to food and then find out the following for two of these careers: skills and responsibilities; working conditions; training and educated needed; earnings.
17. Dieticians work in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, or on their own as consultants. They promote healthy eating habits to prevent illness. Job shadow a dietician and see how he or she impacts people’s lives. Find out about training required for becoming a dietician.
18. Examine your own diet and food choices. What kind of changes can you make in your choices to be a more health individual?
19. Repeat activity number eighteen for individual family members and/or your family as a whole.
20. Research some creative cooking ideas to include healthier food into your family’s dietary plan.
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