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Serve Up Classroom Nutrition Activities!

Serve up a well-balanced nutrition unit! Education World offers a "bunch" of activities to pick from.

A "Mystery Tasting Party" at Alice Byrne Elementary School introduced students to some unusual fruits and vegetables. If the students were unable to identify the "mystery food" by a taste, they were provided with other clues such as which vitamins it contained and where it was grown. By the time many of the unfamiliar foods (including kiwi, mango, jicama, and pomegranate) were unmasked, students had learned lots about them.

Students at Lincoln Elementary School created class presentations about fruits and vegetables. In the presentations, each student tried to persuade classmates to eat a particular fruit or vegetable by providing facts about its origin and its nutritional value.

Those are just two of the many activities available. Serve these and others up as part of a well-balanced nutrition unit.

Note: The USDA updated the food pyramid in 2005; here is the new version , which might look different to you from the older one.

Cut a large triangle out of mural paper or cardboard. Divide the triangle into sections that mirror those on the food pyramid. Then invite students to bring to school magazines and newspaper circulars that include pictures of foods. Students can cut out food pictures that fall into one of the six sections of the pyramid and paste them in the appropriate section of the pyramid. You might use the USDA's food pyramid coloring page with students, or you might use it as a guide for creating the mural-size pyramid.

Read the full article on Education World

Wellness News
Angry Moms Take on School Lunches Two mothers made a documentary about school lunches called Two Angry Moms in an effort to get more nutritious food served.

Less Computer, TV Time Helps Kids Shed Pounds Reducing children’s TV and computer time by half decreased the amount of food they ate and helped them lose weight, a new study found.

Fitness Fun after School

Kids on the Move is an after-school program for children ages 8-12 years old in Atlanta, Georgia. The program is designed to help kids learn to reduce the risk factors for stroke and coronary artery disease.

The program includes three weekly sessions for eight weeks and is conducted in existing after-school programs. Each one-hour session includes 15 minutes of education and 45 minutes of physical activity. On the first two days of each week a health/nutrition topic is presented during the warm-up and cool-down portion of the session. On the third day students participate in a hands-on activity that illustrates the concepts discussed earlier that week. The participants take home handouts related to the health topic to share with their families.

An important component is a fitness screening that is conducted at the beginning of the program for all of the participants. Cardiovascular fitness is measured using the Pacer Test. These results allow the Kids on the Move staff to adapt the program activities to the needs of the individual students. Flexibility is measured before and after the program using a sit-and-reach test. Participants also take a written test at the beginning and end of the program to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes toward fitness and nutrition. Post-program telephone interviews are conducted with the parents/caregivers of the participants to measure any observed behavior changes related to healthful lifestyles.

Read more about this program at: Kids on the Move.

Click to learn more about Action for Healthy Kids.

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