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Schools

Tips for Teaching About Healthy Eating

While focusing on the Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum, make connections to healthy eating in other subjects, like math, art, language, science, etc. This will help students have a better, more in-depth understanding of the information. Studies show that this cross-curricular approach to teaching nutrition can help increase fruit and vegetable consumption, and decrease consumption of sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages. For example, students can do a writing exercise about a new fruit or vegetable they tried, or survey and graph their class preference for vegetables. For more ideas on cross-curricular connections visit:  http://brightbites.ca/badge/zesty-lessons/
Lectures, generic worksheets and textbooks are not as effective as teaching healthy eating behaviours using active involvement that emphasizes the positive aspects of healthy eating. Let students experience healthy food choices using the five senses: sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell. For example, consider the impact of showing students a picture of a kiwi fruit. Consider how much greater the impact would be if you brought in a kiwi and allowed them to see it, feel the fuzzy skin, smell it, see how the seeds are arranged inside the kiwi, and enjoy the texture and taste of the actual fruit. Consider exploring where kiwis are grown, how they are used in cooking and their nutritional value. Use every situation where food is available in the school as an opportunity to expose children to healthy options. Consider starting a school garden or cooking club to give students practical hands-on experiences to learn about food and nutrition as well. 





Frequently Asked Questions about teaching and promoting healthy eating


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