Influences on Your Food Choices

HEALTH EDUCATION (5) - Growing Up Healthy - Week 4/10

HPE Lesson Plans - Health - KHE, 1HE, 2HE, 3HE, 4HE, 5HE

Safety | Mental, Social & Emotional Health | Substance Abuse & Disease Prevention | Growing Up Healthy

5TH GRADE VIRTUAL HEALTH

L1: Your Digestive System| L2: Food - Nutrients for the Body | L3: MyPlate | L4: Influences on Your Food Choices | L5: Food Labels & Advertising | L6: Changing Families, Changing Roles| L7: Communication in Families | L8: Growth Comes in Stages | L9: Growth, Heredity, and the Endocrine System | L10: Dealing with Adolescence | EXTRA: Choices You Make Affect Growth

Growing UP Healthy

Influences on Your Food Choices

See below for the following:

Standard(s), Essential Question(s), Big Idea(s)


LEARNING TARGET / SUCCESS CRITERIA

I will know and be able to explain how family, friends, and culture affect food choices.

I will know and be able to explain how food choices may be affected by health, the seasons, emotions, and knowledge about foods.

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PRE-INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY

Vocabulary

food allergy - an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous physical reaction to a certain food / people who are allergic to foods such as nuts or shellfish may get skin rashes, get upset stomachs, or have life-threatening reactions if they eat these foods

caffeine - a natural chemical found in chocolate, coffee, tea, and most cola drinks / many people react to caffeine by becoming jittery


OPENING (Engage)

Main Idea

Factors such as family, culture, the seasons, and health can influence food choices.

Why Learn This?

You can use what you learn to become more aware of what influences your food choices.


WORK PERIOD (Explore/Explain/Extend/Elaborate)

READ: Influences on Your Food Choices


Suppose you asked your classmates to name their five favorite foods. How many different answers would you get? Suppose you also asked their brothers, sisters, and parents or guardians. By now, you would probably have enough different foods to plan a menu for a whole week. What makes people prefer certain foods? What influences a person's food choices?


How do family, friends, and culture affect food choices?

What kinds of foods did your parents or guardians feed you when you were younger? What foods are available in your home? Are you used to soft, white bread? Crunchy French bread? Heavy whole wheat bread? Dark rye bread? Chances are, the food choices your parents make affect what you like and dislike.


Suppose you have an older brother. If you look up to him, you may have decided to eat foods he eats, or not eat foods he doesn't eat. If you don't get along well with your brother, you may have decided the opposite!


Does your family eat meat at every meal? If so, you are used to having a lot of meat. Are your parents vegetarians? If so, you may have eaten many dishes that your friends have never seen. Instead of meat you may eat lots of different kinds of beans in combination with rice or other protein-rich foods. Your friends also influence your food choices. Perhaps you try salsa and tortilla chips at a friend's home. If you like it, you may ask a parent to get that food for you. At a birthday party you are served vegetarian pizza. You'll at least try it, won't you?


Where you live affects what you eat, too. If you live near the ocean, you may eat fresh fish often. In New England you may have lobster or clam chowder. If you live in the South, you may eat a lot of barbecued ribs, corn bread, or grits. In the Southwest you may be used to chili and tacos. If you live in a farming region, you may eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.


People often take their food preferences with them when they move. As a result, their cultural background may affect their eating habits. For example, families with Mexican heritage may eat burritos and beans. Those from Cuba or Puerto Rico may eat plantains instead of potatoes. Chinese families may eat stir-fried vegetables and rice. Families from the Middle East may eat pita bread and hummus (HUH-muhs), or chopped chickpeas, sesame paste, lemon juice, and garlic. Those from North Africa may eat couscous.


How do the seasons and availability affect food choices?

The wind howls outside. Snow swirls around the house.


The thermometer reads 0°F. Tara is hungry. Do you think she reaches for a frozen fruit bar? No way! A steaming cup of hot chocolate sounds a lot more appealing.


The changing seasons often affect people's food choices. When the weather is hot and steamy, many people choose foods that are chilled. Cold gazpacho soup, watermelon, ice cream, and frozen yogurt are popular in the summer. So are all kinds of salads-green salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, bean salad, and so on.


When outside temperatures begin to drop, hot soups and stews are often more appealing. Foods such as baked potatoes and roast chicken are common choices in cold weather.


The seasons affect food choices in another way. Some fresh fruits and vegetables are available only in the summer. Watermelon, corn on the cob, and cherries are all seasonal foods. Other foods, such as tomatoes and apples, are available all year long. However, during the growing season, these foods are fresher, tastier, and usually less expensive to buy.


A grandparent may describe the childhood treat of a fresh orange in winter. Today most fresh fruits and vegetables are available at any time of year. These foods can now be shipped quickly to distant areas where they cannot easily be grown. As a result, you have many fruit and vegetable choices all year long.


Refrigeration and canning are methods used to preserve foods, or keep them fresh. Fleets of trucks carry fresh, frozen, and canned foods to every corner of the country. In January people in Minnesota and New England eat fresh lettuce and citrus fruits from California, Florida, and even other countries.


All year families in Kansas and Nebraska buy fresh seafood at the supermarket. Potatoes from Maine are made into salads in Mississippi. Apples and pears from Washington make healthful snacks for children in Arizona and Texas. You can get food from any state at any time of the year.


Although foods are often available year-round, not everyone buys strawberries in January. They may be too expensive. Cost is a big influence on food choices. They may choose bananas rather than more expensive fresh peaches or nectarines. It may be less expensive to buy canned pineapple than to buy fresh pineapple. Because so many foods are available, it is possible to have a healthful and balanced diet even on a limited budget.


How do emotions affect food choices?

Cindy's aunt always brings doughnuts when she visits. Kwam's dad takes him for ice cream after band concerts. You may get a special food if you are ill, if you are feeling low, or as a reward if you succeed with something. Different kinds of foods often are connected to feelings of love, happiness, or being successful.


Suppose your dad makes you chicken soup when you have a cold or the flu. He also takes care of you. As an adult you may want the same soup when you are ill. It may help you feel cared for.


Have you ever eaten a candy bar or other sweet snack when you were upset, hoping that it would make you feel better? When people are upset, they sometimes change their eating habits. They may eat much more than usual, or not much of anything. They may eat snacks that are mostly sugar, even though they normally don't eat these foods.


It is important to maintain your healthful eating habits, even if you are upset. The nutrients provided by healthful food choices help your body cope with stressful situations and emotional ups and downs.


How do health concerns affect food choices?


A person's food choices can be affected by how his or her body reacts to certain foods. A food allergy (FOOD ALer•jee) is an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous physical reaction to a certain food. People who are allergic to foods such as nuts or shellfish may get skin rashes, get upset stomachs, or have life-threatening reactions if they eat these foods. To stay healthy, they must avoid the foods they are allergic to.


Caffeine (ka-Feen) is a natural chemical found in chocolate, coffee, tea, and most cola drinks. Many people react to caffeine by becoming jittery. Some people avoid foods with caffeine totally; others limit how much caffeine they eat or drink. Experts recommend that people consume no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine each day. Look at the information in the "Did You Know?" fact. How much caffeine do you consume each day?


Food choices may be influenced by diseases. People with diabetes shouldn't eat much sugar. They must also avoid fats. They should, however, eat plenty of complex carbohydrates.


People with heart disease must avoid fats, too. They need to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Did you know that some kinds of heart disease may result from a lack of certain vitamins? Eating a balanced diet that includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day may help the body avoid these heart diseases as well as some types of cancer.


If someone in your family has a special diet, it may affect what you eat, too. Perhaps someone is trying to lose weight or is allergic to eggs. If so, low Calorie foods may be the rule, or muffins may have to be egg-free.


How does health knowledge affect food choices?

You now know what makes a healthful diet. That knowledge can influence your food choices. To stay healthy, you may want to avoid foods high in sugar, fat, or salt. You may want to choose foods that are high in fiber. You may want to drink more water. You also may want to use the Food Guide Pyramid to help you plan healthful meals.


You are still growing, and you may be very active. These facts will also affect your food choices. They will affect your parents' choices for you. Choosing foods high in calcium, such as milk products, and iron, such as meats and dried beans, will help your body grow. 


REMEMBER...Factors such as family, culture, the seasons, and health can influence food choices. You can use what you learn to become more aware of what influences your food choices.


CLOSING (Evaluate)


REMEMBER...knowing the parts of ourselves we can't change is an important exercise in acceptance. When we accept ourselves as we are, it is easier to accept other people as well.


Standard(s)

HE5.1a - recognize the relationship between healthy behaviors and disease prevention

HE5.1b - describe and apply the basic personal health concepts of healthy eating and physical activity

HE5.1c - describe and apply the basic health concept of mental and emotional well-being

HE5.1d - describe and apply the basic health concept of personal hygiene and safety

HE5.1e - distinguish the short and long-term physical effects of use and/or misuse of substances

HE5.1f - identify trusted adults and when it might be important to seek health care or emergency help for themselves or others

HE5.1g - identify the changes that occur during puberty

HE5.1h - distinguish between tattling, reporting aggression, bullying, cyberbullying, and violence (physical and/or sexual) and how to report these instances

HE5.1i - identify strategies to avoid physical fighting and violence

HE5.2a - evaluate the influence of family and peers on personal health behaviors and decisions

HE5.2b - describe how the school and community can support personal health practices and behaviors

HE5.2c - explain how media/technology influences thoughts, feelings, and health behaviors

HE5.3a - identify characteristics of valid health information, products, and services

HE5.3b - access resources from home, school, and community that provide valid health information

HE5.3c - assess the characteristics of valid health information, products, and services

HE5.4a - apply effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills to enhance health

HE5.4b - model effective nonviolent strategies to manage or resolve conflicts

HE5.4c - demonstrate how to ask for assistance to enhance personal health and the health of others

HE5.5a - identify health-related situations that might require a thoughtful decision

HE5.5b - list healthy options and possible consequences to a health-related issue or problem

HE5.5c - predict the potential outcomes of each option when making a health-related decision

HE5.5d - analyze when assistance is needed in making a health-related decision

HE5.5e - choose a healthy option when making a decision

HE5.5f - describe the outcomes of a health-related decision

HE5.6a - set a personal health goal and track progress toward its achievement

HE5.6b - identify and utilize resources to assist in achieving a personal health goal

HE5.7a - practice responsible personal health choices

HE5.7b - demonstrate a variety of healthy practices and behaviors to preserve or enhance personal health

HE5.7c - model a variety of behaviors that prevent or decrease health risks to self and/or others

HE5.8a - review accurate information and develop an opinion about a health issue

HE5.8b - advocate for positive health choices


Essential Question(s)


Big Idea(s)


RESOURCES / INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS


DCSD Board-Approved Instruction Materials


Technology