EATING HEALTHY

EATING HEALTHY AND THE NEW FOOD PYRAMID LESSON

Directions:

Print the Eating Healthy reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions.  Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Suggested Exercise

Teachers encourage your students to create a food diary for one day. During this time they should write down everything they eat and drink from the time of the assignment until the following day of class. At that time they should pair up or enter a group and compare their eating habits to those around them. Have the pairs/groups make charts based on the Go, Slow, and Whoa pyramid and what they ate to determine how healthy their group is and what areas of healthy eating they need to work on.

Lesson Excerpt

As you get older eating healthy is going to be something you think about a great deal. There are hundreds of good tasting foods out there though many of them are bad for you. Unfortunately, depending on the foods you eat and how much of them you eat in a sitting you can end up becoming overweight and having considerable health problems.

If you have started looking at food and wondering if it is good for you and what it will do to your body then you are heading in the right direction. The key to healthy eating begins with moderation. As much as French Fries and pizza taste good they can also be hazardous to your health if you eat them everyday.

The Food Pyramid

The Food Pyramid is a guide that places food into categories. Originally, the model for healthy eating was based on these six categories:

• Grains • Vegetables • Fruits • Milk & Dairy Products • Meats, Beans, Fish, & Nuts • Oils

This model still tells us how food is classified though it has been modified from its original state. The purpose of the pyramid was to begin at the bottom where you could have the most servings of food and move up the pyramid, with each section giving you a smaller portion of food for a recommended diet. So, you would have plenty of grains and a minimal amount of fats. (continued...)