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Division of Nutrition Assistance
Label It Nutritious
Directions for Design
A large Nutrition Facts Label is surrounded by containers representing
the five food groups.
Suggested Materials
- Illustrations of five different types of containers
- Lettering for the Food Guide Pyramid Groups or pens for marking
- Large Nutrition Facts Label
Learning Activities
1. Identify foods according to the food groups.
- Students can cut out pictures of foods from the different food groups and
place them on or next to the correct containers.
- Ask students to bring food labels to class. Classify the food labels
according to the food groups. Note that some may be combination foods
that fit into more than one food group.
2. Read Nutrition Facts labels.
- For older or more advanced students, incorporate a lesson on food labeling.
Assign students to bring in Nutrition Facts labels from a variety of foods.
Have a supply of labels on hand so that a wide variety of foods is represented.
Ask students to make comparisons of various foods (i.e., breakfast cereals
to compare fiber content, snack foods for fat content, etc.). Have
students compare similar foods in the same food group, such as various
kinds of pizzas, cheeses, or yogurts, and determine which are lower in
fat, but higher in other nutrients such as fiber or calcium. Ask
students to compare the amounts of cereal, pizza, chips, etc., they eat
to the serving sizes on the labels. Ask what happens to the calories
and nutrients when twice as much is eaten; then, ask what happens when
half as much is eaten.
3. Graph Nutrition Facts labels of cereals.
Ask students to bring in Nutrition Facts labels from their favorite cereals.
Be sure to have an assortment of cereal labels on hand. (Other materials
needed: several sets of measuring cups, a small scale to measure ounces,
several plastic bowls, and samples of breakfast cereals.) Students begin
by taking a class poll to see which cereals are the most popular. They
then graph their results. Do serving sizes on the nutrition labels
represent what the students actually eat? Measure out or weigh serving
sizes and place in a cereal bowl. Do the students usually eat more
or less? Does your school serve cold cereal for breakfast?
What is the serving size?
Next, divide the class into teams and distribute the
Nutrition Facts labels from different cereals. Ask each team to compare
the information given on the labels.
- Which cereals contain a lot of sugar? Too much sugar can cause
tooth decay.
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Do the cereals contain different amounts of vitamins? Manufacturers
often add vitamins to cereals.
Each team should make graphs for each of the different
nutrition categories and use this information to make cereal recommendations,
such as cereals that are low in fat or high in fiber.
4. Comparing milk products
(Materials needed: samples of whole milk and 2%
milk with the Nutrition Facts labels and paper cups.) Instruct students to compare the milk labels.
- Which milk has more fat and which has less?
- Which milk would you choose if you wanted to increase the calcium
in your diet? (There is no significant difference.)
- Which is higher in total fat?
- Which is higher in saturated fat?
- Which has fewer calories?
From this activity, a student learns that fat intake is lowered by substituting
2% milk for whole milk. Ask students to conduct a taste test to see
whether they can tell the difference between the two types of milk.
Have them pour the different milks into cups marked A and B, then record
which milk is in which cup. Students will see that there is very little
difference in taste between the two milks, yet substituting 2% milk for
whole milk reduces fat intake almost by half. In addition, ask students
to identify the types of milk in cartons or pouches in the school cafeteria.
5. Writing activity
Assign students to write news stories on what they
learned using Nutrition Facts labels to make healthy choices.
6. Internet activity
Visit the FDA nutrition label site.
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