Post on 13-Nov-2021
READING FOOD LABELS: A GREAT TWO –MINUTE DRILL
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LESSON
OBJECTIVES: 1. Why are food labels important? 2. Parts of a food label: a. Serving size b. Servings per container c. Calories d. Sugar e. Fat
INDIANA STANDARDS(Grades 3-5).1.1 Identify the link between healthy choices and being healthy.(Grades 3-5).5.5 Identify a healthy choice when making a decision.(Grades 3-5).7.2 Identify a healthy practice to maintain personal health and wellness.
TEACHER TALKING POINTSWhy are food labels important? • Theycanhelpyoudecidewhattochooseaspartofyourhealthyeatingplan. • Labelstellyouwhattheingredientsinthefoodareandwherethefoodcamefrom. • Theingredientlistisanimportantpartofthelabel.Ingredientsarelistedinorder so you get an idea of how much of each ingredient is in the food. When something is listedfirst,secondorthird,youknowthatthisfoodprobablycontainsalotofit.The food will contain smaller amounts of the ingredients mentioned at the end of the list.
Parts of a food label: a. Serving size i. Alwaysstartwiththeservingsizeamount,whichisusuallyfoundatthetopofthe label.Therestoftheinformationonthelabelisbasedonthatamount. ii. Sometimes you’d be surprised that what you think is one serving (i.e. a bag of potato chips) is actually two servings. b. Servings per container i. Thelabelalsotellsyouhowmanyservingsarecontainedinthatpackageoffood.If thereare15servingsinaboxofcookiesandeachservingistwocookies,youhave enough for all 30 kids in your class to have one cookie each. c. Calories i. Acalorieisawaytomeasurehowmuchenergyafoodprovidestoyourbody.The number on the food label shows how many calories are in one serving of that food. ii.Thenumberofcaloriesapersonneedsvaries,dependingonthatperson’sgender, age,weightandactivitylevel.
d. Sugar i. Check the ingredient list to see where sugar appears and try to limit foods that mentionsugarinthefirstfewingredients.Thatmeansit’saverysugaryfood.Sugar hasdifferentnames,soitmightalsobecalledhighfructosecornsyrup,cornsyrup, sucrose,orglucose. e. Fat i. Totalfatshowshowmuchfatisinasingleservingoffood.Ourbodiesneedalittle fat every day because it is an important source of energy. ii.Unsaturatedfats,whicharefoundinvegetableoils,nutsandfish,areoftencalled “good fats” because they don’t raise cholesterol levels. iii. Saturated fats and trans fats are considered “bad” because they can increase a person’sriskfordevelopingheartdisease.Thesefatstypicallycomefromanimal products like cheese or meat. • WhenyoureadNutritionlabels,trytoselectfoodsthatarehighinfiber,vitaminsand mineralsandlowinsugar,sodium,fatandcholesterol.
STUDENT ACTIVITY – Food Ranking Activity
A food-ranking activity is a way for students to learn what’s important on a nutrition label when makinghealthyfoodchoices.Todothisactivity,bringinsixtoeightdifferentfoods with labels. Without looking at thelabels,askstudentstorankthefoods in order of what they think is the healthiest down to the least healthy.Oncetheydeterminetheorder,theycanthenanalyzethe nutrition labels to see if they correctly ranked them.
A variation on this activity is to rank the foods on a specificcomponentonthelabel,suchasmostcaloriestoleastcaloriesorthemostfibertothe least.
FAMILY INFORMATIONCreating opportunities to talk about healthy eating habits at home with your child can go a longwaytowarddevelopinglifelonghealthyeatinghabits.Mealtimesaregreatopportunities,but don’t limit yourself to discussing nutrition just at the table. Here are some tips for helping your child learn more about reading food labels: • Makethegroceryshoppinglisttogetherandcomparevariousbrandsofthesamefood atthegrocerystore. • Guesstheservingsize Asyourchildisgettingreadyforhis/hersnack,askthemtomeasureoutwhattheythink isoneserving.Thenhavethemmeasureoutwhattheactualservingsizeisaccordingto the food label. • PrepareIndividualservingsofsnackfoods Atthestartoftheweek,haveyourchildcheckthefoodlabelsofhis/herfavoritesnacks and measure out single servings that can be eaten after school. • HaveaSnackFoodScavengerHunt Eachfamilymemberfindsafavoritesnackfoodinthekitchen.Haveyourchildlead everyoneinfindingwhichfoodishighestorlowestinaparticularnutrient.Forexample, compare the number of calories in one serving of each food and select the nutritional “winner” with the lowest calories. Use different nutrients on different days.