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Nutrition Education Resources for Teachers

Elementary students sit at cafeteria tables in rows during a school lunch

Offering Nutrition Education in schools at all age levels helps prepare students for critical life skills and life-long healthy habits. Children who develop healthy habits at an early age are more likely to be well, stay well, and do well in school.

Students who graduate from high school with a strong background in Nutrition Education will have the skills to make informed nutrition and health decisions. As with any subject, students succeed when they begin building basic skills early, so that when they graduate from high school, they can continue to make healthy food choices for themselves. And most important, students who have developed competencies in Nutrition Education will begin adulthood with an appreciation and healthy enjoyment of food, as well as a positive body image. The prevalence of obesity among children has roughly tripled in the past 30 years. Numerous health risks are associated with obesity; therefore, schools have the responsibility to provide effective Nutrition Education to teach students to navigate a complex world of food and nutrition choices.

Farm to School Programs

Ideas for Teachers

  • Take a tour of the garden.
  • Start an afterschool or during school garden club.
  • Bring a farmer into the classroom.
  • If you do not have a garden, try a Garden in a Glove (PDF) lesson or Desktop Garden (PDF) lesson.
  • Get the whole family involved, create an extra credit assignment to plant a vegetable, herb, or fruit.
  • Take a field trip to a farm.
  • Show educational films about food or gardening.
  • Establish Farm to Summer NE activities coordinating local foods served in the cafeteria

Ideas for Farmers or Garden Teachers

  • Bring produce into classes and talk about Tops and Bottoms (PDF).
  • Bring a potted plant or tree into the classroom, so students can see how the plant grows.
     

Food Tasting Activities

Ideas for Teachers

  • Try taste testing in the garden.

  • Incorporate a theme or holiday into taste testing.

  • Use fun names for your food samples.
     

Cooking Experiences

Ideas for Teachers

  • Connect a Nutrition Education lesson with a cooking activity.

  • Try cooking or making a healthy dish or snack in the classroom.

  • Incorporate a theme or holiday cooking experience.
  • Create an extra credit or homework assignment to cook or make a healthy dish, snack, or smoothie at home.
     

Core Curricula

Ideas for Teachers

Nutrition Education Programs
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
MyPlate
Team Nutrition
https://www.fns.usda.gov/nutritioneducation

Excess Sugar and Health Affects on the Body:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utXcI3FqzeM

What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Sugar for 14 Days?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPyFIvCvh8U

Is Sugar in Fruit Different Than Sugar in Soda?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5IOkU53C3s

Sugar Hiding in Plain Sight
Middle school lesson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4CZ81EmAsw

The Skinny on Obesity
Drugs, Cigarettes, Alcohol….and Sugar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moQZd1-BC0Y

Physical Activity Education
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/resources/nutrition-education-materials/physical-activity

Team Nutrition Resources for Schools
Elementary & Secondary & Afterschool
Posters and Quizzes
https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/school

Power UP -Nutrition Education for TEENS
12 Lessons/Materials/Handouts
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/nutrition-education/fns-curricula/power

Nutrition Education for Kindergarten
https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/myplate/nutrition-education-kindergarten

Dairy’s Functional Health Benefits
Resources for all age groups
Nutrition Education: Resource Recommendations

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