HPE Curriculum Healthy Eating Strand
D1.1 Explain why people need food to have healthy bodies and minds
D2.1 Describe how Canada’s Food Guide can help them develop healthy eating habits
D2.2 Know and recognize cues to hunger, thirst, and the feeling of fullness, and explain how they can use these cues to develop healthy eating habits
Key Concepts for Student Learning:
Why do we eat?
- Our bodies and minds do a lot for us during the day. We grow, we learn, play, and heal. One of the things our body needs for this to happen is food and water. Food gives us energy.
- Food connects to self, family, history, culture, tradition, nature and community
- Water refreshes us and helps us grow, learn, and play
Canada’s Food Guide messages that can support eating habits:
- Enjoy a variety of foods because different foods help our body to do all the things it needs to do (think, walk, grow, move, play, etc.) and makes eating more interesting and enjoyable. Food comes in all shapes, sizes, colours, smells and flavours. Learning to like new foods takes time.
- Learn to cook because it is an important skill to have as a grown-up, helps you save money and allows you to have fun and experiment with food.
- Eat meals with others because it is a good way to spend time together, allows you to share food traditions and culture with others, and gives the opportunity to explore new foods you might not have tried before.
- Enjoy the food you eat.
Recognizing hunger, fullness and thirst cues:
- We are born with hunger cues which tell us when we need to eat and when we need to stop. We feel hungry before eating and full after eating. It’s important to listen to our body. Not all of us experience hunger and fullness in the same way.
- We know we need to eat when our body (stomach) lets us know, or if we start to think more about food.
- We know we have had enough to eat when your body starts feeling full. A few hours later, we will probably feel hungry (or thirsty) all over again.
- Sometimes we eat when we are not physically hungry, and that is ok
NOTE: Educators should be aware that food guide messages may not be appropriate for all students including those who are neurodivergent and/or have health, sensory or other exceptional needs that impact their relationship with food and eating. SMHO Resource on Mental Health Promotion at Schools: Classroom Considerations – Supporting Mental Wellness Amongst Students with Special Education Needs offers tips that can be applied to support learning about food and eating at school.
Classroom Activities and Lesson Ideas
Explore a variety of foods
- Class discussion: Foods come in many different colours, tastes, textures and smells and how it’s good to learn about and try different foods. Talk about different foods, asking questions like: What does it smell like? Sound like? Have you tried this before? What does it taste like? What colour is it? How does it grow? Young children may need to learn new vocabulary to describe food.
- Play “Guess the Food” by putting food items in a box or bag and having students use their senses to guess what the food is. The What am I? Food literacy activity from Northern Health and Vancouver Coastal Health can be used as a guide.
- Song: I just found a kiwi in my lunch (Teach Nutrition): View the song and brainstorm additional verses describing other foods using the activity sheet available.
- Think of and draw a picture of a food for every letter of the alphabet
- Food Spotting Activity from Dietitians4Teachers
- Alphabet Foods from Nutrition Education and Consulting
- Fun food sorting activity from Nutrition Education and Consulting
- Exploring Our Drinks from Teach Food First
- Food Bingo from Teach Nutrition
- Explore foods together through reading books about food. For example, “Eating the Alphabet” by Lois Elhert, Frankies Favourite Food by Kelsey Garrity-Riley and A to Z with Veggies and Fruit by Arielle Dani Lebovitz
Cook more often
- Books: What’s Cooking at 10 Garden Street by Felicita Sala, Bilal Cooks Dahl by Anoosha Syed and Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamasi
- Prepare a simple recipe as a class, such as yogurt parfaits or cereal trail mix. Try these picture recipes from Teach Nutrition.
- Talk about foods that are cooked at home
Enjoy food and eat with others
- People I Like to Eat With Lesson (Teach Food First)
- Family Food Choices (Alberta Health Services)
- Healthy Respectful Lunchroom (Good in Every Grain)
Hunger, Thirst and Fullness Cues
- Class discussion: What does it feel like when you are hungry? Thirsty? Full? What feelings do you notice in your head, stomach, mouth?
- Affirm that it is okay to stop eating and drinking when you are full, when you have had enough, or if you don’t like a food.
- Read No Ordinary Apple by Sara Marlowe to introduce mindful eating and try it with other foods