HPE Curriculum Healthy Eating Strand
D2.1 Evaluate personal eating habits and food choices on the basis of the recommendations in Canada’s Food Guide, taking into account behaviours that support healthy eating
D3.1 Identify strategies for promoting healthy eating habits and food choices within the school, home, and community
Key Concepts for Student Learning
- It is beneficial to eat a variety of foods every day. All types of food nourish the body.
- Canada’s Food Guide includes messages and recommendations about beneficial eating behaviours like mindful eating, cooking more often, enjoying our food, being aware of food/beverage marketing etc. Note: Canada’s Food Guide outlines one way of eating; healthy eating looks different for everyone.
- Having a positive relationship with food involves eating regularly, enjoying a variety of foods, eating with others, cooking more often, etc.
- Facilitators and barriers to practicing healthy eating behaviours:
- Eating a variety of foods: Availability of foods at school, home and when out in the community, being able to afford food, transportation to access food, rural vs. urban, food preferences
- Eating with others more often: Scheduling, evening work/extra-curricular activities, screen use, time, location for eating (classroom, cafeteria, dinner table, couch)
- Cooking more often: Having kitchen equipment, knowing how to cook, having enough money to afford food, knowing how to read a recipe, time to cook
- Enjoying our food: Opportunity to try new foods, mindful eating/distractions, being worried about food and making healthy choices, diet culture, family traditions, celebratory foods
Note: Self-monitoring or tracking of food intake is harmful for students and should not be done.
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
- Canada’s Food Guide Guided Discovery Activity by TeachNutrition
- Explore Canada’s Food Guide recommendations (e.g., eat with others, enjoy your food, be aware of food/beverage marketing, cook more often).
- Explore Canada’s Food Guide using critical inquiry: Consider questions such as: Who is excluded from the food guide? What populations could it not be relevant for? How does it differ from other countries’ food guides?, etc.
- Class discussion: Discuss facilitators and barriers related to eating habits such as:
- cooking more often
- eating with others more often
- enjoying our food
- eating a variety of foods
- Identify strategies to help overcome barriers to make these beneficial/healthy eating habits easier in the home, school and community. For example, how could we help people be more comfortable with cooking? How could we help ensure that people have enough money for food? How could we help students at our school try new foods?