Teacher’sInformation

Developed by Northern Sydney Central Coast HealthCentral Coast Nutrition Services ph 43203691Health Promotion Unit ph 4349 4800 October 2006

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Q4:Go 4 Green -Teacher Information

Activities will - Introduce students to ‘the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children andAdolescents in Australia’ and the ‘Australian Guide to Healthy Eating’

Introduce students to the term “sometimes foods” Provide practice for students in identifying healthy food choices and“sometimes” foods

Advance PreparationClass set of ‘Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents inAustralia’ or overhead (attached)

1 poster of Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (or attached overhead),class set of A4 posters or Background Information for Consumers

Class set of Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (blank) from page 8 of theEducators Guide (master attached)

Class set of ‘what is in your lunch box today’ sheets (master attached)

References The Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in

Australia: www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/dietsyn.htm

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating - Background information fornutrition educators & consumers booklet & A4 posterwww.health.gov.au/pubhlth/strateg/food/guide/index.htm

For background information website www.healthpromotion.com.au

Terms/SpellingDiet Processing SampleGuideline Variety

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Activity

1. (Optional) Teacher leddiscussion regarding thenutrition guides availableto promote healthy eating

a) Dietary Guidelines forChildren and Adolescents inAustralia (revised 2003)

Show overhead or distributecopies

b) Australian Guide to HealthyEating (AGHE)

2. Using large poster orindividual A4 posters orconsumer booklets - Classdiscussion of food groupingsof the AGHE

Teacher notes

1a)

Use of the guidelines will encourage healthylifestyles that will minimise the risk of thedevelopment of diet-related diseases within theAustralian population.

The dietary guidelines highlight the groups offoods and lifestyle patterns that promote goodnutrition and health.

They are no longer listed by number, as noguideline is considered more important thananother. Each guideline deals with a key healthissue and is like a piece of the good healthpuzzle-see pamphlet.

The guidelines are aimed at health careprofessionals & teachers to assist them toprovide advice about healthy eating.

1b)The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is a newlydeveloped (1998) national and contemporaryfood guide for Australia, which reflects themulticultural nature of the population. It isrelevant for all sectors of the food system to useas a nutrition education and information tool.

2. Discuss: Shape ie circle is like a plate (not meant torepresent a plate…The shape illustrates therelative proportions of foods to be eaten eachday from the 5 food groups. If you eat fromeach of the 5 food groups in the amountsrecommended, it is likely that your diet willcontain all the nutrients that you need).

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3. Using the blank “Enjoy avariety of foods everyday” from page 8Educators Guide (masterattached). Distribute BlankAGHE to each student

4. Sample servesUse the Sample serve guideon page 20 of the Consumersguide of the AGHE (modifiedmaster attached)

divided into five food groups (fat no longerincluded)

consistent with the Dietary Guidelines forChildren and Adolescents in Australia

represents the amounts of each group weshould eat and serving sizes

multicultural perspective displays the wonderful variety of foods

available in each group variety of processing identified ie canned,

fresh, packaged, frozen. The same food in avariety of forms ie corn canned and fresh.Long life and fresh milk.

water is included extra foods are separated from main group

and a separation exists between extra foods

3. Students to write in the foods that they eat inan average day from each of the groups or makea picture collage from magazines (finish forhomework).

4. Students can identify their age group and thenumber of serves of each food group they shouldbe having each day.

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5. Sometimes Foods

Ask students what they thinksometimes foods are?

Compare and contrast theireating habits with therecommendations.

Calculate the number ofserves of “extras” they wouldnormally consume over aday/week

Develop a class list of healthysnacks they could pack intotheir lunchboxes.

5. Sometimes Foods

Other Names for sometimes foods include; Junk food Extras Snacks Unhealthy food Lollies Take away

What about the “sometimes” or “extra” foods?

Some foods do not fit into the main food groups.They are not essential to provide the nutrientsyour body needs and some contain too muchadded fat, salt and sugars.

These sometimes foods can add to theenjoyment of a healthy diet and should bechosen “sometimes” or in small amounts.

A sample serve of extra foods is based on theamount that supplies 600kj.

Eg 4 plain sweet biscuits1 small packet of savoury biscuits (Approx)1 small packet chips (30g)1.5 biscuit & dip combo1 slice plain cake (40g)/1 small muffin2.5 roll ups1/3 of an 85g instant noodle package½ small chocolate bar375ml soft drink, cordial, fruit drink½ cup lollies1.5 sweet cereal bar1 muesli bar

Students can use www.healthpromotion.com.auas a reference – see ‘Teenagers only’ links.

Or use the online calculatorwww.schoolcanteens.org.au to determine if asnack meets the canteen guidelines – need labelon pack

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Activity 6Go 4 Green Lunchbox Activity

Use the daily/weekly checklist(provided) as a guide to assiststudents in packing a healthylunchbox.

Teacher notes

Students could draw a lunch box shape and fill itup with drawings of healthy foods or pastepictures cut out of magazines. Ensure thatstudents have something from each food groupwithout sometimes foods.

Refer to the Fresh tastes @ school NSW HealthyCanteen strategy using the colour themes ofGreen foods– always eat these eg fruit,vegetables, breads and cereals, Amber – selectcarefully and don’t eat too much of these egpackaged and pre prepared foods and Redoccasionally eg soft drink, chips, donuts.

Collect a variety of boxes and labels and conducta food sorting activity foods into appropriatecolours ie green, amber and red.

Conduct a taste testing in your class with avariety of unusual but yummy fruits/vegies iedried mangos, lychees etc

Hold a ready steady cook off

Decide on a healthy snack to make using basicingredients. Eg. Banana rolled in orange juice andcoconut and placed on a paddle pop stick orvariety of Jaffles ie Apple, tinned peaches

Prepare as much of the food before hand aspossible; give the students a page with greenpepper on one side and red tomato on the otherfor voting. Ask some students to come up andhelp a teacher from each team to make a healthysnack from the ingredients available. They had tomake choices between bread/ milk/fruit /wateretc.

If possible have the Ready Steady Cook themetune which may be played on a loop while thesnacks were being prepared.

The students will enjoy the fun (especially thetasting bit at the end). For a bit of fun you canmake an unhealthy snack competition - maketeachers taste it.

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AUSTRALIAN DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR CHILDREN ANDADOLESCENTS

Encourage and support breastfeeding

Children and adolescents need sufficient nutritious foods togrow and develop normally

Growth should be checked regularly for young children

Physical activity is important for all children and adolescents

Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foodsChildren and adolescents should be encouraged to:

Eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits

Eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably

wholegrain

Include lean meat, fish, poultry and/or alternatives

Include milks, yoghurts, cheeses and/or alternatives.

Reduced-fat milks are not suitable for young children under 2 years, because of their high

energy needs, but reduced-fat varieties should be encouraged for older children and

adolescents

Choose water as a drink

and care should be taken to: Limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake

Low-fat diets are not suitable for infants

Choose foods low in salt

Consume only moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars

Care for your child’s food: prepare and store it safely

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Go 4 Green Lunchbox Activity Healthy lunches are important for children at school to help with concentration and learning. Use this checklist to include food from ALL these food groups everyday. Look at the Q4: ‘Super Lunchbox’ Ideas flyer for healthy food ideas from each food group.

WHAT’S IN YOUR LUNCHBOX TODAY?

Food Group Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Bread and cereal foods

Fruit

Dairy food

Vegetables

Lean meats and meatalternatives

Drinks

Sometimes FoodsBest left out of lunchboxes! Sometimes foods lack the healthy nutrients, and yet contain lots of sugar, fat (and therefore kilojoules) and/or salt.Remember: Keep lunches cold! Store in fridge until leaving for school, then use an insulated bag or freeze drinks or ice-bricks.