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Prior to teaching the nutrition and diet lesson, have students keep a food journal for 3 to 5 days. Have students write down every item eaten for the entire period. Do this prior to the lesson so that students have a normal diet to analyze without the influences of a healthy eating lesson. This way, students can compare healthy and unhealthy foods.
After bringing the food journals to class, have students analyze the U.S.D.A. food pyramid's suggested daily requirements from a resource such as MyPyramid.gov. Students then compare and contrast the food journal entries made with the official food pyramid's suggested daily servings. Students should note positive and negative, or healthy and unhealthy findings. - Provide students with strategies for locating resources on nutrition and diet. Discuss the use of books, health professionals, videos and websites as excellent resources. Assign students the task of creating a presentation in any chosen media about a nutrition or diet topic. Have students choose a topic of personal interest. Offer students ideas for presentations, if necessary. Some suitable topics might include the food pyramid, weight loss, food safety, diets from other countries or diseases caused by a lack of proper nutrition. Preparation of the presentation should include visual, text and verbal elements presented through a poster, computer slide show, brochure, handout or model.
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As students listen to peer reports, they reflect on the information learned. Students analyze the food and activity journals kept prior to the start of the lesson, searching for ways to improve personal nutrition and diet. Students write a proposal for improving personal diets. Use resources such as those at nourishinteractive.com to find charts and graphic organizers on which to create the proposed improvements.
After making the proposals for a healthier diet, students keep a food journal for 3 to 5 days again. Students attempt to make the proposed nutrition and diet changes as often as possible. After 1 to 2 weeks, students reflect on the challenges, positive outcomes and difficulties associated with the changes.
