Lesson Plan
Title: Healthy Habits Builds Healthy Children
Description: The purpose of this presentation is to educate , develop, and improve children’s dietary
habits and introduce hands-on activities to engage children in the kitchen. Dietary habits begin as
children and span a lifetime. Children develop dietary habits through food exposure, familiarity of flavor
combinations, and observing parents or other influential people in a child’s life. Currently, the quality of
children’s’ diets is not where it should be based on USDA’s Dietary Guidelines. This presentation
discusses how a child’s growth and development can be affected by poor quality diets, along with the
possible health complications that can develop.
The purpose of this presentation is build awareness about how to develop and improve children’s’ diets
and encourage parents to apply their knowledge by instilling in their children good dietary habits.
Dietary habits begin as children and span a lifetime, which is why it is important to emphasize good
dietary habits early in a child’s life. The best way to develop positive dietary habits is through hands-on
activities such as grocery shopping, meal planning, and food preparation. Habits can also develop
through parent and child nutritional awareness.
Learning objectives for the audience:
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To establish how children develop their food preferences
To inform about the health consequences which can occur if good dietary habits are neglected
To illustrate how current quality of children’s diets do not meet USDA’s Dietary Guidelines
To encourage parents to promote healthy dietary habits by leading by example and actively
engaging their children in the grocery shopping, meal planning, and food preparation process
Materials:
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PowerPoint presentation
Handout or activity
Lesson Plan with Resources
Evaluation
Resources:
United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The Quality of Children’s
Diets in 2003-04 as measured by the Healthy eating Index-2005: Nutrition insight 43. April 2009. 1 Oct.
2010. <http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/NutritionInsights/Insight43.pdf >
"Childhood Obesity: Complications." Mayo Clinic.com. Web. 09 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/DS00698/DSECTION=complications>.
"Obesity and Overweight: Contributing Factors." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web. 09
Nov. 2010. <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/causes.html>.
"USDA's MyPyramid - Dietary Guidelines for Americans." MyPyramid - United States Department of
Agriculture. Web. 09 Nov. 2010. <http://www.mypyramid.gov/guidelines/index.html>.
Benton, D. "Role of Parents in the Determination of the Food Preferences of Children and the
Development of Obesity." International J Obesity 28.7 (2004): 858-69.
Cooke, L. "The Importance of Exposure for Healthy Eating in Childhood: a Review." J Hum Nutr
Diet 20.4 (2007): 294-301.
Hanson, Nicole I., Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Marla E. Eisenberg, Mary Story, and Melanie Wall.
"Associations between Parental Report of the Home Food Environment and Adolescent
Intakes of Fruits, Vegetables and Dairy Foods." Public Health Nutr 8.1 (2005): 77-85.
Hyland, R., R. Stacy, A. Adamson, and P. Moynihan. "Nutrition-related Health Promotion
through an After-school Project: The Responses of Children and Their Families." Social
Science & Medicine 62.3 (2006): 758-68.
Larson, N., D. Neumarksztainer, P. Hannan, and M. Story. "Family Meals during Adolescence Are
Associated with Higher Diet Quality and Healthful Meal Patterns during Young
Adulthood." J Am Diet Assoc. 107.9 (2007): 1502-510.
Maynard, M., D. Gunnell, P. Emmett, S. Frankel, and G. Davey Smith. "Fruit, Vegetables, and
Antioxidants in Childhood and Risk of Adult Cancer: the Boyd Orr Cohort." J Epid
Community Health 57 (2003): 218-25.
Parmer, Sondra M., Jill Salisbury-Glennon, David Shannon, and Barbara Struempler. "School
Gardens: An Experiential Learning Approach for a Nutrition Education Program to
Increase Fruit and Vegetable Knowledge, Preference, and Consumption among Secondgrade Students." J Nutr Educ Behav 41.3 (2009): 212-17.
Stang, Jamie, and Cynthia Taft Bayerl. "Position of the American Dietetic Association: Child and
Adolescent Nutrition Assistance Programs." J Am Diet Assoc. 110.5 (2010): 791-99.
Knowledge Builder: (Activity and Handout)
The activity that accompanies this presentation is a tool to help an adult assess their own eating habits
that will be influencing the children in their life. It lists thought provoking questions for the person to
answer in an effort to help them understand where they may be able to improve their own diet and be a
positive role model for a child. The handout with this presentation shows the MyPyramid
recommendations for children, suggested serving sizes and also includes sample child-appropriate
assignments that kids can do to become involved in helping to prepare family meals.