Health and Nutrition Education Best Practices

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Health and Nutrition EducationBest Practices

• Robin Sinks, Health Curriculum, Leader Long Beach
  USD
• Janis Price, Health Educator, Long Beach USD

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Session Objectives

• Participants will be able to
• 1. describe how two districts provide nutrition
  education through their health education
  curriculum
• 2. identify the essential nutrition education
  concepts and skills within the Health Education
  curriculum
• 3. describe elements of successful Health
  Education curriculum
• 4. identify resources (instructional materials,
  staff training, funding) to support nutrition
  education within the Health Education curriculum

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• Healthy eating habits ideally are established
  during childhood, and schools are uniquely
  positioned to model, promote and reinforce
  healthy behaviors.
• Healthy Eating Active Communities (2007). Key
  Lessons From California Schools Working to Change
  School Food Environments. The California
  Endowment.

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Health Knowledge Quiz

• Record your answer True or False
• It is healthy to wear a seat belt.
• It is healthy to eat a nutritious breakfast.
• It is healthy to brush and floss your teeth.
• It is healthy to get 30 minutes of aerobic
  exercise at least 3 times a week.
• It is healthy to get adequate sleep.

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Health Behaviors Quiz

• Record your answer True or False
• I always wear a seat belt in the car.
• I eat a nutritious breakfast every day.
• I brush and floss daily.
• I get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 3
  times a week.
• I always get adequate sleep.

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Goal of Health Education

• Health literacy is the capacity of an individual
  to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health
  information and services and the competence to
  use such information and services in ways which
  are health-enhancing.
• Joint Committee on Health Education Standards
  (1990)

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Content Areas in Health Education
Personal Health Consumer/Community Environmental N
utrition Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco Injury Prevention
Safety Family Living Growth
Development Chronic Communicable Disease
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Goal of Nutrition Education

• Our goal in nutrition education is to increase
  students knowledge, positive attitudes, and
  consumption of nutrient dense foods (those foods
  with high nutritional value compared to calories)
• Its all about changing behavior!

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Health Literacy
National Health Education Standards (NHES)
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Nutrition Education focused on Core Concepts

• Essential Nutrients
• Benefits to eating healthy and increasing PA
• MyPyramid recommendations and food groups
• Components of healthy snacks
• List sedentary, moderate and
• vigorous PA

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Nutrition Education focused on Accessing
Information

• Label Reading
• Locations for healthy foods and PA
• Readability and validity of web sites
• Popular diets and health products
• for safety and adequate
• nutrient content

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Nutrition Education focused on Analyzing
Influences

• Internal and external influences regarding food
  choices
• How family, friends and media influence food
  choices
• - Advertising literacy

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Nutrition Education focused on Decision Making
- Decision making process to select nutritious
foods - Decision making process to select
healthy options for physical activity
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Decision Making Model
Use the decision making process to plan
nutritionally adequate meals at home and away
from home.

• Decision Making Process
• Identify the decision to be made
• Make a Pros and Cons list (emphasizing positive
  and negative consequences)
• Choose the best option
• Reflection
• MOST IMPORTANT!
• Would I make the same decision again?

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Decision Making Model
Positive Consequences
Negative Consequences
Situation
Reflection
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Nutrition Education focused on Goal Setting

• - Plan to choose healthy foods and beverages
• - Plan to eat your recommended amounts of foods
  in each food group

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Goal Setting
D R I V E R S
Distracters
Distracters
Short and Long Term Goals
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Nutrition Education focused on Interpersonal
Communication
- Dialogues that express needs, ideas, and
opinions -Mom, can we buy cereal that has whole
wheat. - Clear and organized - Effective
ways to say no - Appropriate and effective
verbal and nonverbal strategies
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Nutrition Education focused on Self-Management

• - Habits of healthy eating
• (EX choosing healthier foods on menus, asking
  for dressing on the side, choosing to take the
  stairs instead of the elevator)
• - Strategies to avoid or manage unhealthy or
  dangerous situations.
• Steps in the correct order if
• there are any.

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Nutrition Education focused on Advocacy
- Students advocate for enhances nutritional
options in school or community
- Clear stand for a healthy choice. - Explain why
the stand taken is good for health. - Awareness
of the audience for the message. - Conviction
about the message.
Be persuasive!
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How can teachers teach skills in the classroom?

• Teachers begin educating students with core
  concepts and guide students as they start to
  develop skills that leads to a health promoting
  life style.

Persuasive writing Creating Action Plans Role
Playing Journal Entries LOTS of opportunities
for PRACTICE!!!
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How can we use an orange to teach healthy eating?

• Lets apply the National Health Education
  Standards to nutrition education
• Which standard is assessed in the following
  objectives?
• Compare the nutrient density of orange juice and
  orange drink using a food label
• Draw an orange, label parts
• Analyze marketing strategies
• used in an orange soda commercial
• Sing about oranges

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How can we use an orange to teach healthy eating?

• Set a goal and develop a plan to eat two more
  oranges each week
• Watch a video on how oranges grow
• Identify the consequences of eating more oranges
  each week
• Practice peeling an orange
• Write a letter to the food service director
  persuading her to use more oranges
• Measure an orange

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Effective Health Education Strategies

• Presents current, accurate information
• Recognizes similarities and differences among
  students
• Emphasizes importance of behavior
• Is culturally appropriate
• Is accessible to all students
• Provides opportunities for active learning

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Effective Health Education Strategies

• Focuses on mental and emotional health throughout
• Emphasizes character development
• Uses technology to enhance learning
• Connects concepts with other learning
• with other areas of health education
• with components of coordinated school health
• with other academic disciplines

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Reality Check Modeling Healthy Behaviors
In addition to all that we do in providing
skills-based health education based on all of the
theories of learning, we need to remember that
our actions frequently speak louder than our
words. Dont forget to model healthy behaviors!
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Resources - Instructional Materials

• California adopted Health Textbooks
• USDA, Dairy Council and PowerPlay!
• California Healthy Kids Resource Center (see
  Handout)
• Remember Research-based strategies!