healthy eating
LEVEL – Upper primary
HEALTHY EATING DESCRIPTION In these activities, students learn about healthy eating and the importance of a balanced diet. They analyse their own food choices and compare them to the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan, a member of the Australian Olympic Team.
These cross-curriculum activities contribute to the achievement of the following:
Studies of society and environment • •
Identifies the types of data and sources required by the task and decides how they will be used to gain information Translates information from text to graphical form
English •
Interprets and discusses some relationships between ideas, information and events in visual texts for general viewing
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education •
•
Discusses the factors influencing personal health choices Explains the consequences of personal lifestyle choices
SUGGESTED TIME approximately 10-20 minutes for each activity (this may be customised accordingly)
WHAT YOU NEED • •
class copies of Student handout photos or examples of a variety of foods (as outlined in activities and handout)
ACTIVITIES The following activities may be completed independently or combined as part of a more comprehensive learning sequence, lesson or educational program. Please refer to your own state or territory syllabus for more explicit guidelines.
What you ate yesterday 1. Ask the class to think about the food they consumed yesterday, including drinks and snacks. Distribute student handout. Write a list of all the food you ate yesterday using the table in the handout. Compare your food choices with Australian Olympic Team member Eamon Sullivan. Present your findings to the class.
Variety of food 1. Ask the class to think again about the food they consumed yesterday, including drinks and snacks. Expand the discussion to include student examples, the names of individual food items as well as broad varieties of food. Work with the class to brainstorm food varieties such as those outlined in the following sample:
vegetables
dairy foods fruit
meat, fish, chicken legumes
Variety of food
nuts, seeds
chips, lollies bread, pasta, rice
2. Show the class photos or examples of various food types. Explain that healthy eating guidelines suggest eating a variety of foods everyday. Explain that the amount of food eaten each can be organised in the following way: • • •
eat most: bread, cereals, rice, noodles eat moderate amounts: vegetables, legumes eat least: dairy, meat, fruit
Outline that a typical sandwich might contain items from several food varieties (eg bread, meat, cheese, vegetable etc). Explain that foods such as lollies, chips and ice cream are often referred to as “sometimes foods”, should only be eaten in small amounts and shouldn’t be eaten every day.
Distribute student handout. Discuss the relative sizes of each section and how these shapes related to the suggested daily amounts of a variety of foods. Transfer your food choices from the original table to the healthy eating chart. Repeat for Eamon Sullivan’s food choices (with another copy of chart). Discuss your findings with the class using the following questions: • • • • • • •
Did you eat food from each section? Where there any sections left blank? Which sections contained the most food? Which sections contained the least food? How does you food intake compare to Eamon’s? What can you do to make sure you eat a variety of foods each day? What are the health consequences of different food choices?
REFLECT ON a.s.p.i.r.e. VALUES
Why is having a good attitude to healthy eating important? How does the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan from the Australian Olympic Team compare with your own? What are some ways in which you could increase the amount of healthy food you eat?
EXPLORE A LITTLE FURTHER • • • • • • •
Draw some pictures of the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan and display on the classroom wall. Find out more about Eamon Sullivan at http://www.eamonsullivan.com.au/ Write a shopping list that features a range of healthy foods that are part of a balanced diet. Collect photos and illustrations of the wide range of healthy foods eaten by students in your class. Research healthy eating plans and other resources at http://www.csiro.au/science/WellbeingPlanForKids.html Use a search engine or your local library to find healthy recipies. Explore more ideas about healthy eating at http://www.goodforkids.nsw.gov.au/Kids
STUDENT HANDOUT Eamon’s food eaten in a day (when not in training) Breakfast
My food eaten in a day
Breakfast
A 3-egg omelette with vegetables on wholemeal toast Morning snack
Morning snack
Muesli bar
Lunch
Lunch
Poached chicken sandwich with avocado and salad on wholemeal bread. Afternoon snack
Afternoon snack
150g macadamia nuts and a yogurt
Dinner
200 – 250g of lean protein (such as kangaroo) with steamed green vegies and sweet potato
Dinner
STUDENT HANDOUT
HEALTHY EATING DESCRIPTION In these activities, students learn about healthy eating and the importance of a balanced diet. They analyse their own food choices and compare them to the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan, a member of the Australian Olympic Team.
These cross-curriculum activities contribute to the achievement of the following:
Studies of society and environment • •
Identifies the types of data and sources required by the task and decides how they will be used to gain information Translates information from text to graphical form
English •
Interprets and discusses some relationships between ideas, information and events in visual texts for general viewing
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education •
•
Discusses the factors influencing personal health choices Explains the consequences of personal lifestyle choices
SUGGESTED TIME approximately 10-20 minutes for each activity (this may be customised accordingly)
WHAT YOU NEED • •
class copies of Student handout photos or examples of a variety of foods (as outlined in activities and handout)
ACTIVITIES The following activities may be completed independently or combined as part of a more comprehensive learning sequence, lesson or educational program. Please refer to your own state or territory syllabus for more explicit guidelines.
What you ate yesterday 1. Ask the class to think about the food they consumed yesterday, including drinks and snacks. Distribute student handout. Write a list of all the food you ate yesterday using the table in the handout. Compare your food choices with Australian Olympic Team member Eamon Sullivan. Present your findings to the class.
Variety of food 1. Ask the class to think again about the food they consumed yesterday, including drinks and snacks. Expand the discussion to include student examples, the names of individual food items as well as broad varieties of food. Work with the class to brainstorm food varieties such as those outlined in the following sample:
vegetables
dairy foods fruit
meat, fish, chicken legumes
Variety of food
nuts, seeds
chips, lollies bread, pasta, rice
2. Show the class photos or examples of various food types. Explain that healthy eating guidelines suggest eating a variety of foods everyday. Explain that the amount of food eaten each can be organised in the following way: • • •
eat most: bread, cereals, rice, noodles eat moderate amounts: vegetables, legumes eat least: dairy, meat, fruit
Outline that a typical sandwich might contain items from several food varieties (eg bread, meat, cheese, vegetable etc). Explain that foods such as lollies, chips and ice cream are often referred to as “sometimes foods”, should only be eaten in small amounts and shouldn’t be eaten every day.
Distribute student handout. Discuss the relative sizes of each section and how these shapes related to the suggested daily amounts of a variety of foods. Transfer your food choices from the original table to the healthy eating chart. Repeat for Eamon Sullivan’s food choices (with another copy of chart). Discuss your findings with the class using the following questions: • • • • • • •
Did you eat food from each section? Where there any sections left blank? Which sections contained the most food? Which sections contained the least food? How does you food intake compare to Eamon’s? What can you do to make sure you eat a variety of foods each day? What are the health consequences of different food choices?
REFLECT ON a.s.p.i.r.e. VALUES
Why is having a good attitude to healthy eating important? How does the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan from the Australian Olympic Team compare with your own? What are some ways in which you could increase the amount of healthy food you eat?
EXPLORE A LITTLE FURTHER • • • • • • •
Draw some pictures of the food eaten by Eamon Sullivan and display on the classroom wall. Find out more about Eamon Sullivan at http://www.eamonsullivan.com.au/ Write a shopping list that features a range of healthy foods that are part of a balanced diet. Collect photos and illustrations of the wide range of healthy foods eaten by students in your class. Research healthy eating plans and other resources at http://www.csiro.au/science/WellbeingPlanForKids.html Use a search engine or your local library to find healthy recipies. Explore more ideas about healthy eating at http://www.goodforkids.nsw.gov.au/Kids
STUDENT HANDOUT Eamon’s food eaten in a day (when not in training) Breakfast
My food eaten in a day
Breakfast
A 3-egg omelette with vegetables on wholemeal toast Morning snack
Morning snack
Muesli bar
Lunch
Lunch
Poached chicken sandwich with avocado and salad on wholemeal bread. Afternoon snack
Afternoon snack
150g macadamia nuts and a yogurt
Dinner
200 – 250g of lean protein (such as kangaroo) with steamed green vegies and sweet potato
Dinner
STUDENT HANDOUT
