How to Celebrate National Nutrition Month in the Classroom

The month of March is National Nutrition Month, but good nutrition can't be taught to students with just one lesson, or even a month's worth. Making good nutrition choices has to be an ongoing habit, one that is supported by parents at home. You can, however, use National Nutrition Month as a jumping-off point to encourage your students to develop good nutrition habits that will last throughout their lifetimes--lifetimes of eating and being healthy!

Things You'll Need

• Paper plates
• Art supplies
• Writing tools
• Snack foods (some unhealthy)
• Old magazines

Instructions

1. Define good nutrition. Discuss with your students what a healthy meal should include. Use books to help you (ask your school librarian), or go on the Internet to visit some sites about good nutrition. You can even order a set of nutrition lesson plans from the USDA, complete with classroom posters. Visit the link below if you are interested in doing this.

2. Find out about fat! Have the students bring in their favorite snack foods, then graph how many fat grams are in each item. You can have them work in groups to graph, or do one large classroom graph. Compare these results with how much the USDA recommends students consume per day, and then ask the students to suggest alternative, healthier snacks.

3. 

   Create healthy meals. Have the students plan one day of healthy eating based on the guidelines found in the food pyramid. For a creative twist, have them create a menu like one that would be found in a restaurant, or alternately, have them use three paper plates (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and color or glue pictures of their healthy meals onto the plates. You can use old magazines to find pictures of food items.

4. Evaluate the lunchroom. Ask the students to peruse this month's menu of school lunches and evaluate them based on nutritional value. Are there changes that should be made, or are the lunches nutritionally sound? If changes need to be made, write a letter to the principal or the lunchroom manager listing why changes need to be made to the menu. If the lunches are nutritionally sound, write a letter thanking the manager for creating healthy meals.

5. Create healthy snacks. Ask the parents to send in ingredients for making healthy snacks, and put them together in the classroom. Students love to cook, and they will be more inclined to eat healthy snacks if it is something they have prepared themselves!

Tips & Warnings

• If you can take your students to a computer lab, explore the Pacific Science Center's interactive Nutrition Cafe, a wonderful and highly entertaining site about good nutrition. Your students will love all the (educational) games! See link below.

• Consider a field trip to a local supermarket, health food store or a place that makes and sells whole-grain breads, such as the Great Harvest Bread Company chain.

Resources

• Pacific Science Center Nutrition Cafe
• Food pyramid and resources for teachers to use from the USDA
• Eating Well: Quick and healthy snack recipes