Visual Aids on Nutrition for Teaching Rural People
Teaching nutrition in rural areas can be a life-changing and world-saving activity. According to ThinkQuest.org, 1 out of every 12 people worldwide suffers from malnutrition. This problem presents itself not only in foreign deserts and jungles, but also in rural America. You will want your lesson to be as effective as possible. Visual aids are a vital part of any educational program. Each student learns differently. Some may learn best from your lectures, but you also need to consider those who have a more visual memory.
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Diagrams
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Diagrams are an effective tool for teaching about malnutrition. You can find drawings of malnourished children and adults, where each symptom is labeled. Using these diagrams, your class can learn to spot the tell-tale signs of malnutrition in themselves and their families.
Charts
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Charts are an easy and effective method of taking large amounts of information and organizing it to be simple and understandable. You can provide standard weight charts to indicate whether a person is eating enough. These charts give ideal weights for people of certain heights and frames. Another chart could list the essential vitamins and minerals alongside pictures of foods that contain each nutrient.
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Handouts
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Professor David Morley created the idea of "Road to Health" cards. Using the card, a parent can chart the growth and weight gain of their children and ensure they are getting proper nutrition. Any sudden drops or plateaus in weight will signify a problem. Morley believes this creates a positive goal: "adequate weight gain," instead of a negative goal of "preventing malnutrition."
Posters
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The food pyramid is a classic poster to hang when teaching nutrition. Not only does it easily display the proportions each food group should take in your diet, it also tells how many servings of each food group you need daily. Other poster ideas could be lists of the essential vitamins or a series of posters dealing with special situations that call for specific nutritonal needs, such as pregnancy, sickness or times of breast feeding.
Calendars
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Using calendars as a visual aid can teach your students how to garden or how to eat seasonally. While explaining to your class that certain kinds of produce are cheaper to buy during certain times of the year, provide them with a calendar that shows which foods to buy when. This calendar can also give seasonal gardening reminders for those who wish to grow their own food.
Worksheets
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Worksheets are both visual and interactive learning tools. Worksheets can help your class build a grocery budget or plan a week's worth of nutritious meals.
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References
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of WorldIslandInfo.com
