Nutrition FAQs: Nutrition Explorations

Q: Why is it important to teach nutrition? There are so many other subjects to teach?
A: Nutrition is an important life skill — as important as reading or math. What your students eat or don't eat can affect their health, growth and ability to learn. We realize there's a lot to squeeze in, but nutrition education helps students learn a skill they will use the rest of their lives - making healthy food choices. Related Links: Why Teach Nutrition Nutrition Lessons
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Q: What concepts can I teach with the MyPyramid?

A: As a general guideline, teach primary children:

The names of MyPyramid's Five Food Groups
The foods in each group
A health benefit for each food group
How to plan a nutritious meal

Teach the same concepts at the upper elementary level, but add:

Key nutrients for each food group
Recommended amount from each group
Combination Foods

Dairy Council's® Little D's Nutrition Expedition™ and Arianna's Nutrition Expedition™ for 2nd and 4th grades support MyPyramid and teach these concepts.

Related Links:
Age-appropriate Nutrition Concepts
Arianna's Interactive Nutrition Games
Little D's Interactive Nutrition Games

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Q: A lot of my students don't eat breakfast and are starving by 10 a.m. What can I do?

A: Studies show that children who eat breakfast are better able to focus and learn, and have fewer classroom behavior problems than students who don't. Try these approaches for turning breakfast skippers into breakfast eaters:

Discuss the importance of eating breakfast and brainstorm strategies for eating it every day.
Support school breakfast and encourage all of your students to take advantage of it. Let students know that school breakfast is for everyone.
Help students identify some easy-to-make breakfasts to eat at home or on the run.
Schedule a mid-morning classroom snack. A late breakfast is better than no breakfast at all.
Learn more about Breakfast in the Classroom, and discuss it as an option with the school nutrition director.

Related Links:

Breakfast First
Breakfast at School
Create a Big Breakfast Book
School Breakfast: Improving Children's Minds & Bodies

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Q: Why is drinking milk important?

A: Milk provides calcium and eight other essential nutrients needed for good health and strong bones. Currently, more than half of children ages 2–8 and three–quarters of children ages 9–19 do not get the 3–A–Day™ of Dairy servings recommended by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Drinking milk helps close this gap. Diets rich in milk and milk products:

Can reduce the risk of fractures now and osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease, later in life.
Are associated with more nutritious diets and adequate intake of many nutrients. Milk provides, three of the five "problem nutrients" the DGA identifies as low in kids' diets — calcium, magnesium and potassium.

The DGA, MyPyramid and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children consume three daily servings of low–fat or fat–free milk and dairy products.

Related Links:
Milk at School
3–A–Day™ of Dairy Lessons
Bridges to Wellness™ 3–A–Day™ of Dairy Nutrient Package Lessons

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Q: My students prefer chocolate milk with lunch. Isn't white milk better for them?

A: Flavored milk tastes so good, many adults and children don't realize it's good for them, too. Both white and chocolate milk are excellent sources of calcium, riboflavin, phosphorous and vitamin D, and good sources of protein. So are strawberry, banana and other flavors. Active children can easily use the 60 or so extra calories in eight ounces of flavored milk.

A recent study shows that children who drink flavored milk consume more milk overall, and it adds to their nutrient intake without increasing their overall intake of calories, fat or sugar.
A nationwide study of 100,000 children found that when ice-cold milk was offered in a variety of flavors and kid-friendly packaging, children chose 15 percent more milk, and the amount they drank increased by 35 percent.

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Q: Chips! Candy! Soft Drinks! How can I convince my students to eat less?

A: These foods belong in the "Others" category, which also includes:

fats, oils and spreads
sweets
salty snacks
condiments

"Others" category foods add flavor and can make meals more enjoyable. However, they provide proportionately more calories than nutrients and should be eaten in moderation. Many people are concerned about individual foods. But all foods, if consumed in moderation, can fit into a healthy diet.

Reldated Links
More About "Others" Category Foods
The Dragon's Tail Activity
Too Many "Others" Foods Tag

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Q: What exactly is healthy diet?

A: A healthy diet provides all the nutrients we need in a day. The amount a child needs from each food group depends on their age, gender and daily physical activity. Children who are very physically active, for example, need more than children who get little or no physical activity. For students who get 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity the recommendation is at least 6-5-3-3-2:

6 Grain Group servings (6 ounces)
5 Vegetable Group servings (2 1/2 cups)
3 Fruit Group servings (1 1/2 cups)
3 Milk Group servings (3 cups)
2 Meat Group servings(5 ounces)

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Q: My students eat some foods I've never seen or tasted. I have no ideas what food group they belong to. Help!

A: Here's how some popular multicultural favorites fit into MyPyramid. If a food is not listed, look it up in a dictionary, on the Web or in a cookbook. Or ask a student to describe the food, what it's made from, or how it's eaten.

Download Arianna's Nutrition Expedition™ Backgrounder, and go to page 11 for a list of how some popular ethnic foods fit into the Five Food Groups.

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Q: Should I encourage snacking?

A: Children need snacks to prevent hunger and provide them with nutrients throughout the day. In fact, without snacks it's difficult for children to meet many of their nutrient needs. Unfortunately, children often choose high-calorie, low-nutrient snacks instead of more nutritious foods. Try these ideas to teach students how to choose healthy snacks:

Teach the concept that nutritious snacks have at least one of the Five Food Groups.
Brainstorm a list of Five–Food–Group snack ideas.
Ask the school nutrition staff to sponsor a Five–Food–Group snack tasting.
Send a list of nutrient-rich snack suggestions home with students.

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Q: Which is better for my students — school lunch or a packed lunch from home?

A: It depends on the lunch. However, research shows that in general, school meals provide more nutrients than meals brought from home. With school lunch, children get a variety of foods from at least three to five of the Five Food Groups. School lunches are required to meet specific guidelines for fat, calories and nutrients that tend to be low in children's diets, such as vitamin A, iron and calcium. Promote school lunch as a nutritious choice:

Send the weekly lunch menu home.
Ask the school nutrition director if your class can act as "taste testers" for new menu items.
Design a special menu board for the day's lunch menu.

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Q: Don't physical activity and good nutrition go hand-in-hand?

A: Absolutely! Healthy children are both well-nourished and physically fit. As well as a wide variety of foods from the Five Food Groups, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. This includes spontaneous play like bike riding or tag, organized sports, and physical education. How can you encourage your students to become more active?

Role-model an active lifestyle and share examples of how you are physically active.
Schedule recess every day - make sure it's not lost to other subjects or withdrawn as punishment.
Encourage active games like jump rope, kick-ball and tag during recess.
Urge your school to offer physical education every day if it doesn't already.
Announce opportunities for physical activity, like school sports teams or local park and recreation programs.
Urge parents to set limits on TV watching, video and computer games. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggest no more than 2 hours a day for these activities.

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Q: Are tomatoes a fruit or vegetable?
A: Botanically, tomatoes are fruits of the tomato plant. Green peppers and cucumbers are also fruits of their plants. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture places all of these "fruits" in the vegetable group. In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes are a vegetable when a gentleman named John Nix sued the port of New York's customs collector for back duties he paid on imported tomatoes. At the time, a 10 percent tariff was required on imported vegetables, while fruits were imported duty–free. After arguments were presented, the Court ruled that because tomatoes are known and used as vegetables, that they are vegetables.
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Q: Is pizza good for you?

A: Pizza is a Combination Food. Combination Foods combine foods from two or more food groups. They count as a full or partial serving of the food groups from which they are made. For example, cheese pizza combines:

Mozzarella cheese from the Milk Group
Tomato sauce from the Vegetable Group
Pizza crust from the Grain Group

Combination Foods are great sources of nutrients because the combine the nutrients from several foods. They have been criticized for being high-calorie, but calorie for calorie, Combination Foods, like tacos, sub-sandwiches, Chef's salads or stir-fry dishes are nutritious choices.

Related Links:
Combination Food Nutrient Bar Graphs
Arianna and the Combination Cookbook Activity

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Q: One of my students is a vegetarian? Is that safe for children?
A: It depends on the type of vegetarian. Some "vegetarians" skip red meat occasionally, while others eat no animal products. The more food groups a vegetarian eliminates, the trickier it is to get all of the nutrients the body needs. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian children can meet all of their nutrient and energy needs with a well-planned diet that includes dairy products and/or eggs. The Dietetic Association also recommends that children who eliminate all animal products work with a registered dietitian or health professional to plan meals and snacks that meet their nutrient needs.
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Q: Does flavored milk contain as much added sugar as fruit drinks or carbonated soft drinks?

A:No. While flavored milk contains both natural and added sugars (nearly half of the sugar in flavored milk is naturally present in the milk), it contains less added sugar than other beverages that kids drink, such as carbonated soft drinks. On average, an eight–ounce, low–fat flavored milk contains around 4 teaspoons of added sugar, while an equivalent amount of fruit punch contains 6 teaspoons, and an equivalent amount of soda contains 7 teaspoons. However, soda in a can is typically consumed as a 12–ounce serving, which provides 9 teaspoons of added sugar. Flavored milk contributes only 2 percent of total added sugar in children's diets, compared to 50 percent or more by soft and fruit drinks according to data from the Nutrition Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).