Lesson 4.5: Making Healthy Nutrition Decisions

Overview

This lesson focuses on learning about how to make healthy nutrition decisions and practice healthy nutrition behaviors in everyday life.

Learning Targets

  • LO22: Understand what processed foods are and explain how they contribute to a food toxic environment.
  • LO23: Explain how type 2 diabetes is related to food choices.
  • LO24: Using three examples, explain how different food choices contribute to overall health or disease.
  • LO25: Compare and contrast healthy and unhealthy fats.
  • LO26: Explain the benefits of eating a nutritious breakfast.
  • LO27: Use the decision-making process to demonstrate how to choose a healthy breakfast.
  • LO28: Compare and contrast grilling and broiling with frying and describe how each relates to health.

Preparation

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the Journal Question on the board or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Make copies of the Lesson 4.5 Note-Taking Guide. Project the Lesson 4.5 PowerPoint slides.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 4.5 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Making a Healthy Food Decision.

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Journal Question: Over the course of a typical week, what percentage of your diet comes from pre-made or pre-packaged foods? Are the choices you make healthy? Why or why not?
    • Option: Write or project the question and have students respond in their journal or on their “bell ringer” sheet as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 4.5 Vocabulary Review Worksheet
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 4.5 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quiz and use it alongside a posttest to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Lesson Focus: Making a Healthy Food Decision

  1. Give each student a copy of the Lesson 4.5 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Making a Healthy Food Decision.
  2. Have students work individually to identify the nutrition issue they want to work on.
  3. Tell students to complete steps 1 through 4 on the worksheet.
  4. Tell students they will now need to go about their day with this plan in place to try and help them make a healthy food decision.
  5. When students come back to class the next day, have them finish step 5. They should reflect on what they learned from this process and how they did on holding themselves accountable toward making a healthy food decision.
    Option: Have students find a partner and tell them to share how well they were able to hold themselves accountable to making a healthy food decision based on what they focused on improving. Tell students to brainstorm ways they may have been able to be more successful or to discuss what made it so they were able to be successful.

Challenge Activity

Have students needing an additional challenge work on the following Thinking Critically task.

Kateri, who is 15, typically skips breakfast. On mornings when she does eat, she enjoys a bowl of sugary cereal and an energy drink that gives her just the boost she needs. When there is fresh fruit juice in the house, she will drink that, but most of the time there isn’t any. At school, she often hears her stomach growling before lunch. Coupled with the jittery feeling that outlasts the so-called boost from her energy drink, she has a hard time concentrating. How can you help Kateri learn to make healthier breakfast decisions? What advice would you give her? Write your response as a letter to Kateri.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you...

  • Understand what processed foods are and explain how they contribute to a food toxic environment?

    Processed foods are foods that have been changed before they are sold or eaten. Our society is often called a food toxic environment, which is an environment where cheap, unhealthy convenience foods are easy to access. Most of these foods are processed.

  • Explain how type 2 diabetes is related to food choices?

    Sugar is hidden in many processed foods. Sugar is a preservative and helps to keep foods fresh for longer. Diets high in added sugar make it more likely that you may end up with type 2 diabetes.

  • Using three examples, explain how different food choices contribute to overall health or disease?

    Diets high in sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes, cancer, or heart disease. For a person with diabetes, eating a healthy diet and being active can help keep blood sugar at a safe level. Sodium is needed to help muscles contract, but diets too high in salt can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure). Diets high in saturated fats can lead to heart disease and heart attacks. Unsaturated fats from sources such as nuts and fish are good for you. Antioxidants are found in fresh fruits and vegetables and help to reduce your risk of cancers and other diseases. Foods high in fiber, such as whole grains, beans, and whole vegetables, reduce your risk of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

  • Compare and contrast healthy and unhealthy fats?

    Saturated fat is a type of fat that can lead to heart disease and heart attack. Unsaturated fats are found in plant foods and fish. The fats in avocados, nuts, and fish such as salmon are examples of good fats.

  • Explain the benefits of eating a nutritious breakfast?

    If you don’t eat breakfast at home or at school, you may have a harder time focusing and become more tired in school. You may also feel cranky or restless. Studies have also shown that skipping breakfast may hurt your grades in school. Breakfast helps to replenish the nutrients your body has lost during sleep and prepares you for the day ahead.

  • Use the decision-making process to demonstrate how to choose a healthy breakfast?

    Some strategies for choosing healthy foods include preparing grab-and-go breakfasts ahead of time, avoiding buying unhealthy foods, and planning the night before what you’re going to eat so that you’re less likely to make an unhealthy choice in the moment.

  • Compare and contrast grilling and broiling with frying and describe how each relates to health?

    Grilled or broiled meat is cooked with direct heat, like a barbeque grill or oven. Grilled and broiled meats don’t need any extra fat to cook, and some of the fat in the meat will melt off. Fried foods are cooked in large amounts of hot oil. They add more calories and fat to your diet. Over time, eating fried foods can increase your risk for heart disease.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

Take It Home

Pick a meal that you and your family eat on a regular basis. Ask a parent or guardian for the recipe or look it up in a cookbook or online. Write down all the ingredients and then identify at least two ways to make the meal healthier. Share your modified recipe with a family member and encourage your family to try the healthier version together.