Building a Healthy Meal Lesson Plan

Building a Healthy Meal

Who		WIC facilitator
Why		Creating balanced meals, meals that incorporate the five food groups, can be challenging for busy families.  When families don’t have a lot of time to devote to making healthy, balanced meals, they tend to choose foods that are high in fat, sugar and sodium, and few fruits and vegetables.  Eating large portions of unhealthy foods on a continuous basis can lead to weight gain and the resulting health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.  Having tools to create healthy meals and understanding proper portion sizes of each food group can help families make healthy choices at mealtime.  MyPlate is a new simple tool developed by the USDA to replace the more confusing MyPyramid. Using MyPlate can increase a parent’s confidence to create healthy, balanced meals; reduce unhealthy food choices; and increase vegetable and fruit consumption.  As a result, mealtime may be more enjoyable for everyone in the family.
Time		30 minutes
Set-Up		Chairs set up in a semi-circle

Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will have: Classified various foods into one of the five food groups Compared the portion sizes of each food group on the plate to what their family typically eats. Described how MyPlate can help their family make healthy food choices ·         Composed a meal using an appropriate portion size for each food group

Lesson Overview		1.   Welcome and warm up 5 minutes 2.   What are the five food groups? 8 minutes 3.   Arranging MyPlate        5 minutes    4. Create a meal 10 minutes 5.  Closing  2 minute
Materials Needed		q Poster:  “Lesson Overview” q Poster:  “MyPlate” q Poster:  “Food Groups” q Food Cards q Recipe ingredients for salad q Sample cups & spoons q Handout: Food Guide for Women q Easel, flip chart paper, or dry erase board q Recipe cards q MyPlate coloring sheet q Pencils q Large photos of example plates q Coloring sheets for children (OPTIONAL)
Getting Ready		1.    Post:  Ø  Posters Ø  Overview of lesson & Classroom Guidelines poster 2.    Prepare salad and portion out into sample cups.

1. Welcome and warm up 5 minutes		“Good morning/afternoon, my name is _____.  Making healthy balanced meals can be challenging for all of us.  When we don’t have a lot of time, we tend to choose fast foods which have a lot of fat, salt and sugar.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have one simple tool, like a piece of paper to look at, to remind us how to make our family’s meal balanced and nutritious”? “Today we will be talking about a new tool called “MyPlate” that can help you make healthy food choices.”  Review Lesson Overview.  “This class is about thirty minutes”.  Refer to the Classroom Guidelines. Warm-Up: Before passing out salad samples, tell participants there are almonds in the salad and to not eat it if they or their children are allergic to nuts.  “We’re going to start our class by tasting a salad that I made.  Please turn to your neighbor and describe what you see, smell and taste.  For example, you may want to talk about the different foods you see, or the quantity of each ingredient.  We’ll do this for one minute then share with the group.”                                                                                                        Invite participants to share their reactions.  Example follow-up questions: “What foods/ingredients do you see”? “What colors do you see”? “What does it smell like”? “What does it taste like”? “Do you like the flavors”? “Would you try making this at home”? “Do you think your family would like it”? “The ingredients are mozzarella cheese, slivered almonds, chopped strawberries, chopped cucumber, fresh spinach, brown rice, and a dressing.  We’ve used an Italian dressing, but you can use any vinaigrette that you enjoy.  You can buy all of the ingredients with your WIC checks except the slivered almonds and dressing.” Inform participants that recipe cards will be available after the class.
2. The 5 Food Groups 8 minutes		“The salad you just tasted has foods from each of the five food groups.  The five food groups are represented on this poster titled “MyPlate”. This poster has an image of a place setting.  The plate is divided into four parts: vegetables, fruits, grains, and protein.  The circle placed next to the plate is labeled dairy.  Listen to a description of each of the food groups.  You can follow along with me using this handout called Food Guide for Women.”  Pass out Food Guide for Women. “The Grain food group includes foods like whole wheat bread, tortillas, cereal, brown rice, pasta, and crackers.  Eating whole grain foods is healthy.  Whole grains are high in fiber, folic acid, and iron    ---nutrients that are necessary to reduce the risk of heart disease, constipation, and may help with weight management.  Think about the salad you just tasted.  Which ingredient represents the grain group? Optional: discuss the differences between whole grains and refined grains; cooking whole grains; which whole grains participants can buy with WIC checks (refer to shopping guide). “Vegetables and fruit are naturally low in fat and calories.  They provide many important nutrients such as fiber, folic acid, vitamin A, and vitamin C.  Eating vegetables and fruit as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce the risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and some cancers.  Eat a variety of colors of vegetables such as red tomatoes and strawberries, orange sweet potatoes and melons, green broccoli and apples, blueberries, and purple cabbage.  Which fruits and vegetables are in our salad?” “The Dairy food group includes milk, cheese, yogurt, and calcium-fortified soymilk.  Dairy foods are high in calcium and vitamin D.  Calcium and vitamin D are used by your body to build strong bones and teeth.  Nonfat or low-fat dairy foods are low in saturated fat which is the bad fat.  Which ingredient in our salad represents the Dairy group?” “Finally, Protein foods include meat, chicken, turkey, fish, beans, lentils, tofu, eggs, and nuts.  Protein foods provide nutrients that are important for the growth and maintenance of your body such as B vitamins, iron, and zinc.  Choose lean meats and poultry in order to reduce the amount of saturated fat from your diet.  You can do this by trimming the fat and removing any skin.  Think about varying your protein sources.  For example, eat fish twice a week; serve beans or tofu as the main dish; use nuts to replace meat or poultry in dishes like vegetable stir-fry or chef salad.  Think about our salad again.  Which ingredient in our salad represents the Protein food group?”
2. The 5 Food Groups (continued)		“What are your questions about the five food groups”? “You’ll notice that there is not a place reserved for foods that have a lot of fat or sugar, like donuts, chips, cookies, and soda.  That’s because these foods are ‘sometimes’ foods; they should only be eaten occasionally, like twice a month.”  Activity:  “I’m going to pass around a basket with pictures of different foods.  Pick one food and decide in which food group it belongs. When you’re ready, place the card on the MyPlate poster.  What questions do you have about this activity?” Allow participants time to place the food cards on the poster.  When they are done, read aloud which foods are in each food group.  If any foods are not in the correct food group, ask the class to which food group it belongs.  Thank everyone for participating.
3. Arranging MyPlate 5 minutes		“Now let’s talk about how the food groups are arranged on the place setting.  You’ll notice that the Vegetable and Fruit food groups take up half the plate.  The other half of the plate has the Grains and Protein food groups.  The small circle represents the amount of Dairy foods to be eaten at a meal.  Refer to the example food model plate. “Parents and caregivers, don’t worry!  You don’t have to start measuring each food when making a meal for your children.  Using the MyPlate arrangement is just an easy way to provide your children with a healthy balanced meal.  And it’s OKAY if your child doesn’t eat everything on his plate.  Remember, your job as a parent is to prepare and serve healthy meals.  Your child’s job is to decide how much and whether to eat.” “Turn to the person next to you and discuss how the portion sizes on the place setting compare to what your family typically eats.” “Who would like to share?” Wait for responses.  Thank volunteers for sharing. “Now, turn to the same person and discuss one thing you want to continue to do, OR one thing you would like to change.  For example, maybe you want to continue to have a glass of milk at
3. Arranging MyPlate (continued)		every meal; or, maybe you would like to reduce the amount of meat (protein) that you typically eat.” Wait for responses.  Thank volunteers for sharing.
4. Create a Meal 10 minutes		“Let’s take a minute to look at a few photos of meals and decide together if they follow the MyPlate guidelines.” Show MyPlate photos and ask for participant’s response.  Ask if the photo displays a super healthy MyPlate or not?  What makes it healthy or unhealthy? What do you like?  What could be changed to improve the meal?  Teachers do not have to show ALL of the photos; adjust according to how much time you have. OPTIONAL ACTIVITY:  Pass out MyPlate handouts and pencils to each person (or pairs).   Teachers can give handouts to parents to take home. “Now we are going to create our own meal that follows the suggestions from the MyPlate image.”  “Imagine what you are going to serve for dinner tonight.  Write or draw a meal that includes foods from the five food groups.  Think about how the food is arranged for each food group.” Give participants 2 minutes to complete activity. “Who would like to share the meal they created? How will your family react to this meal?  How will you respond to them?”
5. Closing 2 minutes		“Today we reviewed the five food groups, portion sizes, the new MyPlate, and we created healthy, balanced meals.”  “Who would like to share something you enjoyed about the class or something you’ve learned today?” “Thank you for participating in our discussion today!”