This component of the Healthy Living strand equips students with the
knowledge and skills they need to make healthy eating choices. Students learn to examine
their own food choices and eating patterns and then make decisions and set appropriate
goals, while working within parameters that they can control. Major topics include Canada’s
Food Guide, nutrition, food choices, factors influencing eating habits,skills for healthy eating, food trends, oral and dental health, food systems, and connections between eating choices, chronic disease prevention, and the health of the environment.  The learning in this topic area emphasizes the importance of student involvement in making food choices and preparing meals and snacks. The objective is to encourage students to develop a sense of personal responsibility for taking care of themselves and making healthy food decisions. Hands-on experiences with food help students make real connections between what they learn in the classroom and their own lives. This topic also provides a point of contact with healthy school policies relating to food.

Nutritionix- Food Label Database

HEALTH UNIT #2: 

Substance Use, Addictions, and Related Behaviours. Education is critical to the prevention
of drug abuse. Parents, guardians, educators, and society in general all have key roles to
play in educating students about drug use, misuse, and abuse.

Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs most readily available to Ontario students, and smoking
is the primary cause of preventable illnesses, disabilities, and premature deaths in Canada.
The learning expectations related to substance use and abuse respond to these facts by
focusing on an understanding of the effects of drugs – prescription drugs, non-prescription
drugs, illicit drugs, tobacco, and alcohol – and the consequences of their use. This knowledge
is integrated with the development of a variety of living skills that help students make
and maintain healthy choices.

This strand also addresses addictions and related behaviours that can lead to addictions or
compulsive behaviour, such as online gambling, excessive screen time, or self-harm. It includes
discussion of the relationship between substance use and abuse and mental health disorders
such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Students are made aware of support systems
that can help them find healthy, substance-free alternatives for coping with stressful situations.

Growth and development education is more than simply teaching young people about the
anatomy and physiology of reproduction. For example, growth and development education
focuses on an understanding of sexuality in its broadest context – sexual development,
reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, abstinence, body image, and gender
roles. Acquiring information and skills and developing attitudes, beliefs, and values related
to identity and relationships are lifelong processes.