Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how to keep their skin safe in the sun. The youth will identify signs of melanoma and take note of any moles to watch on their own bodies.

Introduction

Start by telling the youth that everybody needs some exposure to the sun.  It is our body’s main source of Vitamin D which makes our bones stronger and healthier by absorbing calcium. Most people do not need a lot of sun exposure to get the vitamin D that they need, in fact too much unprotected sun exposure can cause damage to the skin, eyes, and even cause skin cancer.

There are many ways to prevent these dangers.

• Young people should wear a sunscreen with a SPF (sun protection factor) of 30 or higher while in the sun.
• They should also be especially careful from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the sun is the strongest.
• It is important that sunscreen is reapplied often, especially after getting the skin wet.
• It may be helpful to wear long sleeves and a hat to protect the skin from overexposure.
• Tell the youth that wearing sunglasses with 100% UV (ultraviolet) protection while outside will help protect their eyes from being damaged by the sun.
• Remind the  young people that their skin can get burned even on cloudy days so make sure to be careful if spending time outside.

If the skin does burn, there are some things you can do to make it feel better.

• Take a cool bath.
• Apply pure aloe vera gel to any part of the skin that is sunburned.
• Use a moisturizing cream to rehydrate the skin to treat itching.

Activity: Body Map

1. Hand out some laminated photos with different types of skin cancer for the class to pass around.  Tell them that a lot of skin cancers show up in moles. Teach them about the ABCDE’s of a mole (see right). Visit What Does Melanoma Look Like? for more information.
2. See if the youth  can find any moles on their arms or legs. Have them inspect the mole using the ABCDE’s for skin cancer.
3. Have each young person make a skin map of their bodies:
   • Hand out a copy of the body ‘map’ using the template provided.
   • Have each young person look at their arms, hands and neck and fill in any moles, birthmarks or freckles they have, onto the body “map.”

ABCDE’s of a Mole

• A = Is it asymmetric or irregular in shape?
• B = Does it have a border that is ragged or notched as healthy moles generally don’t.
• C = Is it a funny color (red, black, mixture of colors)?
• D = Is it larger in diameter than a pencil eraser?
• E = Is it evolving or getting bigger? Any change in shape, color, elevation or any new symptom such as bleeding, itching or crusting is a danger sign.

Conclusion

Each young person should bring the body ‘map’ home to have the rest of the body completed with the help of a parent. Tell the youth that they can look back to the body ‘map’ if they see any new or changing spots.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which includes tips for keeping skin safe in the sun and instructions for watching the ABCDE’s of moles.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Summer sun protection

Sun protection – we’ve got you covered

Additional Instructor Resources

Sunwise for Kids computer games by EPA.gov

Books:

What Are These Spots On My Skin by Scott Naughton
Skin Sense: A Story about Sun Safety for Young Children by Lori Lehrer-Glickman

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the importance of hand-washing by showing them firsthand how everyday germs start out invisible, but when left unattended grow into something very unappealing. They will review proper hand-washing techniques.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about hand-washing. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

Hand-washing is easy to do. It’s one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of germs in all settings—from your home and workplace to schools and more. Clean hands can stop germs from spreading from one person to another.

When should we wash our hands? You should always wash your hands:

• before, during, and after preparing food
• before and after eating food
• before and after caring for someone who is sick
• after using the toilet
• after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
• after touching an animal
• after touching garbage
• any time they feel or look dirty.

It seems simple and obvious that it’s important, but according to the American Society of Microbiology, 96 percent of people say that they wash their hands after using a public restroom, but during observations conducted as part of a study, only 93 percent of females and 77 percent of males actually do.

Introduction

Fifty percent of young people in middle and high school wash their hands, and of these, only 33 percent of females and eight percent of males use soap. That makes it even more important to wash hands since so many of the same people are touching door handles, tabletops, computer keyboards and so many other things every day. 

1. Show the video Wash Your Hands by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The 30 seconds long.)
2. Review the steps covered in the video and the simple directions below for proper hand-washing.
   1. Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold). Apply soap.
   2. Rub your hands together to make a lather. Scrub them well. Be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
   3. Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds.
   4. Rinse your hands well under running water.
   5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or paper towel. You can also let your hands air dry.
3. If soap and water are not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that has at least 60 percent alcohol.
   • Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but they do not remove soil and other substances and do not eliminate all types of germs.
   • Also, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not good at removing elements of food for those who suffer from food allergies.  A child or adult with a severe food allergy could have a reaction if someone else near them has not washed their hands with soap and water and comes in contact with that person.
4. Remind young people that good hand-washing is one sure way to keep you and others in good health!

Activity: A Slice with Germs

1. Ask young people to touch their faces, hair, desk or other object to get their hands dirty.
2. Give each young person a slice (whole or half) of preservative-free, fresh bakery bread and tell them to touch it all over, keeping it flat.
3. Have young people place the slice of bread in bag with two small drops of water. Seal the bag shut.
4. Label the bag with the young person’s name and date.
5. Put all the bread slices in a brown grocery bag. Include one piece of bread in a bag that was untouched.
6. Seal the grocery bag shut. Place in warm spot.
7. Each day, have the youth open the brown grocery bag and observe the bread for any changes. Typically it takes about five days to two weeks for good mold growth.
8. Explain to the youth that the mold is from the germs they had on their hands. Even though we can’t see these germs, they are there. These germs can spread easily and cause us to become sick.
9. Hand-washing is the simple most effective way to reduce the number of germs on our hands!

Conclusion

Remind young people that hand-washing is the simple and effective way to reduce the number of germs on our hands. Picture the mold your germs grew on the bread to remember how important it is to wash your hands throughout the day!

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing good hand-washing habits at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Practicing good hand-washing techniques will help keep germs away

Additional Instructor Resources

Infection Prevention: Hand Washing video

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand why drinking water is important. An Interactive whiteboard lesson teaches facts about the body’s need for water and offers tips to help the youth to drink more water. Using actual healthy and dehydrated plants reinforces the message that all living things need water!

Introduction

Here are some facts to share with the youth about the importance of water.

• Every part of your body needs water. In fact, water makes up 60 percent of body weight.
• Dehydration happens when there is not enough water in your body.
• Mild dehydration can cause headaches, nausea and fatigue (tiredness). You may need more water in hot temperatures or if you sweat a lot.
• If you’re getting enough water you’ll rarely feel thirsty. Your urine will also be clear or slightly yellow. Dark yellow urine is a sign of dehydration.
• There has been a significant rise in the intake of beverages with added sugars and excess calories on the market. Most are geared to entice children to consume. These added calorie beverages are contributing to overweight and obesity in our children.
• Drinking more water is one of the simplest things you can do to be healthier.

Activity: Plants

1. Ask the young people if they think it would be a good idea to give small children, animals, or plants pop or a sports/energy drink? What would happen to them if they did? Possible answers include:
   • sick
   •  tired
   •  wouldn’t grow normally
   •  may even die.
2. Show young people the healthy and unhealthy plant. Point out the differences between the healthy watered plant and the unhealthy plant. Healthy plants are full of color and stand tall and firm. Unhealthy plants sag, lack bright color, look wilted or limp.
3. What do you think may happen to our bodies if we stopped drinking mostly water and drank pop, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks instead? Or if we simply stopped drinking much at all? The answers are the same as for animals, babies and plants, but may include more diseases, injuries, our organs not working right, headaches, not thinking as clearly, or extra weight. Drinks other than water have added ingredients that can get in the way of the water’s ability to do what it’s supposed to do for us.

Water is what human beings, animals and plants were meant to drink! Drinking water actually helps you stay healthy!

Activity: Getting Enough Water

Use the interactive whiteboard, if available, to guide the youth through the following questions in the lesson (see What You Need).

1. What percentage of our bodies are made up of water? Correct answer: 60%
2. Why do you think we need to drink water when our bodies already have so much of it? The answers may include the information listed in the introduction above.
3. So, we know that water is good for us, but do we know why? Ask the youth what they think water actually does in the body, and which things it doesn’t do.

• • Keeps our body temperatures normal
  • Lubricates and cushions joints
  • Makes your hair grow faster (false)
  • Helps your kidneys work correctly
  • Makes you sleepy (false)
  • Protects your spinal cord
  • Helps digestion
  • Helps your body get rid of waste
  • Helps you float better when you are swimming (false)

Conclusion

Your ideas

Ask young people for ideas or tips they have for drinking more water each day. Possible ideas include:

• fill a reusable water bottle and take it with you when you go places

• drink water and milk with every meal

• drink a glass of water when you wake up in the morning

• keep cold water in a pitcher in the fridge.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing the importance of drinking enough water at home. Find more health lesson plans to encourage healthy habits for kids.

Additional Instructor Resources

There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
Water: Meeting Your Daily Fluid Needs
Don’t wait until you are thirsty

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how living a healthy life has to do with more than just what they eat. Healthy living requires following certain habits and routines each and every day. The youth will identify the things they each do personally to lead to healthy lives. Then together they plan an event that includes treats that encourage healthy habits.

Introduction

Explain that health can mean different things to different people. In this lesson, we’re going to talk about healthy stuff that’s not about food. Why? Because to have a healthy life, you need to have certain habits and routines that you follow each and every day.

A healthy life is like a puzzle that you’ve put together. All the pieces are connected, and when one piece is missing, the puzzle is not complete. For a healthy life, you do need to eat well, but there are other pieces of that puzzle that need to come together too.

Activity: Healthful Habits

1. Ask the young people what they could do today to live a healthier life. To start the discussion you could say: “I brushed my teeth this morning and I’m going to do it again tonight before I go to bed.” Ask the young people to name a healthy activity they’ve done today and have them give a reason why they believe the activity is healthy. Correct the young person if needed.
2. Can you think of your habits that are connected to good health? Give the youth the chance to think about this for a moment. They might need you to give them some hints to get them on the right track. You could offer questions, such as:
   • “What about your teeth?” to prompt them to answer that brushing their teeth is a healthy habit.
   • “What do we do with our hands before we eat?” To prompt them to answer that washing their hands before they eat is a healthy habit.
   • “How do we keep our whole bodies clean?” To prompt them to answer that taking a bath or shower each day is a healthy habit.
   • “What do you do every night, until morning?” To prompt them to give you the answer that they need “a good night’s sleep.”

Activity: Plan a Healthy Celebration

Ask the youth to coordinate a healthy birthday celebration or Halloween or Valentine’s Day treat. Instead of bringing in sugary treats, advertise healthier options. Have the young people brainstorm ways to make their school party’s sugar-treat free! Suggest small treasures instead, such as decorated pencils, homemade cards, erasers, toothbrushes, etc.

Conclusion

Close the lesson by reminding young people that there are many ways to be healthy everyday. For the next couple days, try to notice the healthful activities you do such as exercising, eating healthy snacks, keeping clean and getting a good night’s sleep. Keep track of your healthy choices on the Healthy Me Checklist. Each time you notice one, congratulate yourself for taking steps to live a healthy life!

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue to discuss healthy choices in daily life.

Additional Instructor Resources

• There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Healthy Me Checklist
• MyPlate: Increasing Your Physical Activity video
• Healthy Eating Tips for Children video

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand why it is important to brush and floss their teeth. The youth will observe effects of corrosive liquids on eggshells as a demonstration of how harsh materials affect tooth enamel.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about dental care for children. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

There are many more reasons to keep your teeth clean than just having a nice smile, though that’s a good one too! Tooth decay (also known as cavities or dental caries) affects children in the United States more than any other chronic (long-lasting) infectious disease. If not prevented or properly treated, it can cause infections that may lead to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning.

The combination of dental sealants and fluoride has the potential to nearly eliminate tooth decay in school-age children, but good habits are also still a part of the equation.

Brushing your teeth twice every day keeps your teeth—and your gums—clean and healthy. Even if you don’t have permanent teeth yet, you still need to brush. If you don’t brush, the permanent teeth growing underneath can be damaged by the tooth decay that can be growing on the surface.

And you need to brush permanent teeth every day because that’s the best way to keep them healthy. Those teeth need to last your whole life! Healthy teeth are one sign of good health.

Activity

Use hard-boiled eggs to demonstrate the impact of different substances on teeth.

1. Explain to young people that eggshells are similar to the enamel (hard surface) on our teeth and just like eggshells, our teeth can be damaged if we don’t keep them clean and healthy.
2. Fill one cup with soda (cola or other carbonated sugar beverage) and place an egg it.
3. Fill one cup with vinegar and place an egg in it.
4. Fill one cup with water and place an egg in it.
5. Explain to young people that everyday for several days they should check on the eggs to see what’s happening with them.
6. After several days (3 to 5) remove the eggs from the liquid. Ask the youth to describe what they notice. The youth will see that the egg in the soda is stained, the egg in the vinegar is soft and pitted, and the egg in the water is fairly intact. Explain how cola, vinegar or other substances can cause damage to our teeth just like it did to the egg shell. Brushing and flossing and drinking plenty of water help to keep our teeth clean and healthy.
7. Ask the young people what they think about the experiment, and whether there is anything they’ll change about how they treat their teeth now that they’ve done the experiment.

Conclusion

Remind young people that taking care of their teeth is an important part of living a healthy life. Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing dental health at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Get brushing: February is oral care month!

Additional Instructor Resources

Healthy Me Checklist

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the importance of accurately estimating how much of a food they should eat. The youth will estimate portion sizes of snacks and compare to the actual serving size. To make estimating easier, they will compare portion sizes to common items.

Introduction

To introduce this topic, share the following information with the youth. If desired, you can reference the Nutrition Facts label on this handout.

• Average portion sizes of food and beverages in America have significantly increased over the past 20 years. Often the portion size of food and/or drink we have is enough for two or three people. This increase in portion size is changing what we think of as a “normal” portion.
• A portion is the amount of food that you choose to eat for a meal or snack.
• A serving is a measured amount of food or drink, such as one slice of bread or 1 cup (eight ounces) of milk.
• Many foods that come as a single portion actually have multiple servings. The Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods—found on the backs of cans, sides of boxes, etc. — tells you the number of servings in the container.
• It is important for young people to understand that this distortion of portion sizes is causing us to think we can eat more of certain foods than our bodies truly need which can lead to being overweight or obese and an increased risk for chronic (long-lasting) disease.

Activity: What’s your portion size?

For this activity you will need a full bag of chips or box of snack crackers and two paper plates.

Any young person or instructor handling food should wash their hands prior to handling the food.

1. On one plate, ask a volunteer to pour out the amount of snack they think one serving would be.
2. Next, have him or her look at the Nutrition Facts label on the package. It tells you how many servings are in the package and what amount equals one serving size. Have the volunteer take out one serving size and put it on the other plate next to the plate with the serving size he or she thought might be one serving.
3. Ask the youth to compare the two, and let them share their thoughts about it.
4. What happens if we are always eating portions that are more than one serving and we start to think that a bigger portion of food is “normal?” Give the group time to answer. If we eat portions on a regular basis that are larger than our body requires we may gain excess weight or become unhealthy.
5. Give a few examples of portion distortion:
   • A single serving of pretzels is 10 pieces, however many people will eat twice as many without realizing they’re eating a double portion.
   • Many brand name cereals list a portion as ¾ or 1 cup. If you were to pour out ¾ cup of cereal it would look rather small, especially if you use a typical cereal bowl.

Understanding portion sizes is an important component to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Activity: Estimating Accurate Portions

1. Show young people the Portion Distortion Slides/Quiz-Interactive Web Application.
2. Ask them, what are some ways we can keep our portions within a single serving size? Possible answers might be:
   • Don’t eat snacks like chips or cookies right from the bag. Instead, put one serving size on our plate, close the bag, and put it away.
   • Look at the Nutrition Facts labels on foods more often so we know the actual serving size.
3. Review the importance of understanding what is an acceptable portion size of the food they are eating.

Serving sizes are listed on the labels of most foods, so use the Nutrition Facts label to decide the amount that is right for you. For foods that don’t have a label, common items can be your guide to help you decide the right portion.

• Deck of cards = 3 ounce serving of meat/protein
• Tennis ball = serving of fruit or 1/2 cup ice cream
• Fist = 1 cup serving vegetables and grains
• Tip of thumb = dressings, butter or cream cheese
• 4 dice = 1 ounce of cheese

If time permits, use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to come up with your own comparison of portion size to common objects.

• • Vegetables
  • Grains
  • Protein Foods
  • Fruits
  • Dairy

Conclusion

Have young people write down the most surprising thing they learned about portion sizes today and post it on a visible area in the classroom or take home to post on their refrigerator.

 Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that young people can continue discussing healthy portion sizes with their families at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Portion sizes: What amount is ‘right’?

Additional Instructor Resources:

• Allina Health Portion Size Guide
• Managing Portion Sizes: Meals and Snacks video
• Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Serving Sizes and Portions

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how choosing healthful snacks is a habit that can benefit them every day as they grow. The youth will discuss their snacking habits and make a plan to switch out unhealthful snacks with healthful ones.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about snacking. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

• Snacks are foods we eat between meals to satisfy hunger and supply us with consistent energy. To lots of kids and teens, a snack is a bag of chips, some cookies or other high calorie, low nutrient food. Kids are eating more snacks than ever and their calorie intake from those snacks has nearly doubled over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, the extra snacking has contributed to individuals becoming overweight in our society.
• Does that mean snacking is bad for kids? Definitely not! Snacking can help them stay focused at school and while doing homework, and give them a nutritious boost for the day.
• When we think of healthful snack choices we should look to the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein).
• Healthful snacks are ones that fit into the five food groups. For example, string cheese (dairy) and carrot sticks (vegetable). Potato chips may start out as a healthful vegetable but after processing, it becomes high in calories, fat and sodium.

Activity: Snacking Habits

1. Ask the youth: What is a habit? A habit is something you do often or regularly, without even thinking about it.
2. Ask young people to name some habits and write their answers on the board. Habits might include brushing teeth, cracking knuckles, biting nails, smoking or exercise.
3. Ask young people to circle the habits that are good for you. Are there more unhealthful habits listed than healthful ones? Why? Possible answers might be:
   • easier to do unhealthful habits
   • harder to do healthful ones
   • healthful ones might need reminding or support from family or friends.
4. Have each young person take out a piece of paper and pencil and ask them to write down up to five things that they eat on a regular basis for snacks. Give the youth time to write their answers. Invite young people to share what they wrote.
5. Ask the youth, why do we eat snacks? When do we eat snacks? Can the snack choices you make over and over become a habit? How do you know if your snack choice is a healthful habit for you or one that is not healthful? Give them a few minutes to brainstorm and share their answers. Explain how foods that fall into the five food groups are healthful snacks and ones that we should choose regularly over unhealthful snacks.
6. Ask young people to share what might be some consequences (results) of making unhealthful snack choices a habit over time. Possible answers might be:
   • extra weight
   • blocked arteries
   • heart disease
   • cancer
   • being tired.
7. Open the Online Interactive Lesson and Activity. This helps you review the benefits of healthy snacking and gives examples of many snack foods from the five food groups. Young people can choose snacks from the food groups to build their own creative snack idea.
8. Have the youth to create an action plan for choosing healthful snacks instead of unhealthful snacks on the My Pledge to Eat Right and Move More worksheet.

Conclusion

Ask the young people to identify someone (friend, family member, or teacher) to help support or remind them of their action plan to change their snacking habit.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can work together to plan smart snacks at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Additional Instructor Resources

Are You a Smart Snacker? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food?  – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people think of healthful snacks they can eat. In this two-day activity, youth will use their creativity to invent a healthful snack and market it to their peers.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about snacks. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

• Kids often view snacks as a bag of chips, cookies or candy. In doing so, they are missing an opportunity to get much needed nutrients through planning ahead for a healthful snack choice.
• Snacks should be part of a healthy diet that helps kids to refuel between meals and satisfy their hunger.
• Their snack choices are often influenced by catchy names and marketing strategies geared toward kids.

Introduction

Display a variety of food packaging for the youth to review. Ask the kids to name some of their favorite snacks. Analyze the snacks they mention, as well as the ones on display, and decide as a group if they are healthful. Do they include the five food groups found on MyPlate? Are they high in sugar, fat or salt?

Activity: Day 1

Tell the youth that they will be inventing their own made-up healthful snack. They will have the opportunity to use their creativity to invent a made-up healthful snack on paper. This will include naming their product, what it looks like and its packaging (including a nutrition facts label). They will decide the pricing and marketing/advertising strategy for their snack. They will then give a brief presentation/commercial promoting their product idea to their classmates.

Provide the youth background knowledge on inventing a healthful snack item. Remind them to consider factors that would make the item healthful or unhealthful. Encourage young people to think about MyPlate as they create their snacks. Does it have ingredients that are part of the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, and protein)? Is it low in fat and added sugars and/or too much salt?

Feel free to share the following made-up snack ideas to help jump start their imaginations.

• “Merry Cherry Salsa” – Salsa made from a variety of fruits instead of vegetables.
• “Popping Corn” – Popcorn coated with something healthful and not butter.
• “Apriana Bars” – Bar made with apricots and bananas.
• “Blick” – Fruit smoothie drink named after Blake and Nick, “You’ll never get sick with Blick,” was their slogan.

Provide each young person or group with white poster board, blank nutrition facts label, scissors, colored paper, colored markers and/or pencils for drawing.

When their created snack item is complete it should include the following:

• Attractive packaging
• Ingredient list
• Nutrition Facts label
• Price
• Marketing slogan and/or advertising campaign

Activity: Day 2

Have the young people present their healthful food product to the class.

Ask the following questions:

• What is the name of your product?
• How would you describe it – taste, texture?
• Which of the food group(s) did you use?
• Why do you consider it to be a healthful snack?
• Describe the packaging you created for the product.
• What are highlights from the Nutrition Facts label?
• How much does your product cost?
• What is your marketing pitch or slogan for the product?

Optional: Post creative healthful snack displays in the classroom or school cafeteria.

Conclusion

As a group, reflect back to the creative snacks that the youth invented. Remind young people that they can be creative with their snacks each day to make healthful eating more fun!

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthful snack ideas at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Healthy snacking: Moving beyond milk and cookies

Snacking made easy!

Looking for a quick and healthy after-school snack?

Additional Instructor Resources

Are You a Smart Snacker? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
ChooseMyPlate.gov
Make Your Calories Count

Lesson Overview

Finding a healthful, well-balanced meal in most fast food restaurants can be a challenge, but there are always choices you can make that are better than others. In this lesson, young people will explore common fast food choices and the corresponding nutritional information. They will list healthier choices to make when eating at fast food restaurants.

Introduction

Today’s families are busy and on the go with work and activities. Kids are eating away from home more than ever. To introduce the topic of fast food, ask the youth:

1. How often do you usually go to a fast food restaurant? Once or twice a week? More than that?
2. Why do we go to fast food restaurants? (Quick, easy, tastes good)
3. Ask young people to list some of their favorite fast food restaurants? List their answers on the chalkboard or whiteboard.

Activity: Your Fast Food Menu

Each young person will need a blank piece of paper and pencil.

• Have the youth fold their paper lengthwise into thirds. (A fun way to tell them is to fold it the “hot dog” way for lengthwise.)
• In the first column (left side) ask young person to write down each food and drink item they order from one of their favorite fast food restaurants. Tell them to make sure to include the size they get, such as small, medium or large.
• In the second (middle) column, have them write down which of the five food groups each food or drink item belongs to (vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, dairy). Review the five food groups with the youth as needed. Show MyPlate graphic or use our Interactive Whiteboard activity (see What You Need) to talk about MyPlate. If their food doesn’t fit into one of the food groups have them write “extra” instead. Remind them that some foods fit into more than one category. A cheeseburger would be protein/grain/dairy and “extra” for added fat.

Activity: Fast Food Nutrition Information

How can we find nutrition information about the meals you typically choose?

• You can find the nutrition facts on the individual website link including the amount of sugar, salt, calories and nutrients in each food and drink.
• We’ve provided links here to nutrition information from the fast food places kids are most likely to name, but if the young people name others, you are likely to find nutritional information on each restaurant’s websites.
• Help the youth find their favorite choices in the links below, and take a look at the nutritional information that’s provided. It will be helpful to write down calories, sodium (salt), sugar, fat and vitamins. Be sure to watch portion sizes as you compare!

Fast food nutrition information
Pull up different fast food restaurant nutrition information on a projector. Here is a list of restaurants:

McDonalds® Nutrition Information
Wendys® Nutrition Information
Burger King® Nutrition Information
Arby’s Nutrition® Information
Dairy Queen® Nutrition Information
Subway® Nutrition Information

Ask the following questions:

1. 1. What size French fries do you usually order? Notice the difference between the calories, fat and salt (sodium) between the large size and small size fries.
   2. What size burger do you usually order? Compare the nutrition information of the biggest burgers to the smallest ones.
   3. How about drinks? If you choose pop, the same idea is true—smallest is best.
   4. Ask if there are better food options available at fast food restaurants. What have they tried or heard about?
   5. What could you have instead of French fries that would be a better choice?
      • McDonalds® – apple dippers (peeled apple slices with low fat caramel dip), Yoplait Go-Gurt, or Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait.
      • Wendy’s® – apple slices
      • Burger King® – natural applesauce
      • Arby’s® – applesauce
      • Dairy Queen® – applesauce or banana
      • Subway®- baked chips or apple slices
   6. What are some other ways we can make better choices when eating out at fast food restaurants?  Allow young people to offer ideas. Here are some example:
      • Try salads with low-fat dressing, use less dressing or try it without dressing.
      • Use mustard instead of mayonnaise on sandwiches, ask for half the normal mayo/special sauce or go without mayo/special sauces. (lowers calories, fats)
      • Always choose the smallest size of whatever you are ordering, especially if it is a menu item higher in calories, fat, salt and/or sugar.
      • Choose grilled instead of breaded and fried. (lowers fat and calorie content)
      • Choose water or low-fat milk to drink. Juice can be ok sometimes if the portion size is a single serving of four to six ounces and made from 100% juice. (lowers calories and added sugars and fats)
      • Choose fruits/vegetable options when available as sides to increase intake of fruits and vegetables to make it a more healthful meal.

Conclusion

After completing the exercises above, have the youth take out their folded sheets again. Using the nutrition information they have learned, in column number three (right side), have the young people list other options for food and drink choices to make their meal better and include more of the five food groups.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue discussing health food choices at home

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

You have options: choosing healthy foods on the run

Additional Instructor Resources: 

• Make Good Fast Food Choices! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Eating Well Even at Fast Food Restaurants video
• Managing Portion Sizes While Dining Out video
• Allina Health – Fast Food Restaurants
• Medline Plus Fast Food Tips

Lesson Overview

Foods commonly eaten by kids are typically served in larger portions than what their bodies really need. This lesson uses MyPlate to help young people recognize how much of a meal should come from each food group. The youth will compare healthy portion sizes to common items.

Instructor Notes

Foods commonly eaten by kids are typically served in larger portions than what their bodies really need. Often it’s the foods high in less desirable nutrients (fat, sugar and sodium) that are served as the largest portion. Fruits and vegetables, rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber are usually given the least emphasis. The impact of this distortion of portions over time could impact health by contributing to obesity and increased risk for chronic (long-lasting) diseases.

Introduction

Show the youth the baggie with 1 cup of cereal in it. Then show them the baggie with 2 cups of cereal in it.

Ask the young people which portion looks like the amount they would pour in their bowl. Is it the single serving, double or possibly adding the two baggies together, which would represent three servings.

Display the three different sized bowls and ask the class what size bowl do they use when they eat cereal? It is easier to eat more than we need when we are using large portion bowls.

Pour cereal from box into each bowl and then measure how many servings actually fit into each bowl.

Ask the young people, what are some other foods that they would likely eat more than one serving at a time? Examples: macaroni and cheese, ice cream, chicken nuggets, chips/snack crackers.

Activity: MyPlate

Introduce the youth to MyPlate. Show MyPlate graphic or use our Interactive Whiteboard activity (see What You Need) to talk about MyPlate. Explain to the youth that it is important for our bodies to get the right balance of foods so we can stay strong and healthy as we grow. If we get too much of one kind of food and not enough of another, our bodies could end up getting sick or not growing the right way.

Show them how certain foods have a place on MyPlate.

Ask the youth why they think fruits and vegetables take up 1/2 of the plate.

• These foods give us lots of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber) for our bodies so we want to make sure we are eating enough of them.

Now, let’s practice and see if we can match the different food group items to their recommended portion size. Ask the youth: What are some of the ways to get just the right portion of a food item the next time we eat a meal or snack?

• Use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to see portion sizes visualized. (See links below).
• Use common items such as a DVD/CD or a tennis ball to help us with our portion sizes.
• Include fruits and vegetables more often because they are the foods we want to eat the most. If time permits, use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to come up with your own comparison of portion size to common objects.

• • Vegetables
  • Grains
  • Protein foods
  • Fruit
  • Dairy

Conclusion

Welcome additional ideas the youth have and encourage them to remember to often include fruits and vegetables with their meals and snacks.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthy portion sizes at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Portion sizes: What amount is ‘right’?

Additional Instructor Resources

• Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Putting MyPlate Into Action Video
• ChooseMyPlate.gov
• Portion Distortion and Serving Size