Learning Nutrition/Calories in School

WendyTerry420
WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So apparently they have really ramped up nutrition education in schools since I was there. We had the food pyramid, now the kids are using the internet to learn about nutrition.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov
https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/default.aspx

My son had a homework assignment last night to track a typical day of eating. He tracked protein, fats, carbs, and calories. He had a bit of a jump start on the assignment since I have talked to him about these things from things I have learned since being on MFP. His eating habits have changed dramatically in the past month, as he has gained an understanding of how to eat healthier.

Has anyone else found their kids learning this much about nutrition in school? I think it's awesome. When I was in school, we were simply told about "servings," not calories, and there was no guideline to explain what a serving actually was. This was also before the mandate to include nutrition facts labels on food.

Replies

  • delacruz_courtney
    delacruz_courtney Posts: 30
    I'm so happy to hear this!
  • HeinzPrincess
    HeinzPrincess Posts: 92
    My daughter is 4 and in preschool and my son is 7 and in first grade. They aren't learning to the extent that you are describing, but they learn the new "healthy" food pyramid and it is a huge help for me as a parent. When they want sweets, it just takes a quick reminder to enjoy them sparingly.

    I'm a huge fan of teaching kids this in a fun way when they are young! The only thing I would argue is not to be afraid of fat...a good amount of healthy fats keep me full.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    I was taught in high school and college but I still didn't give nutrition a second thought until I was 25.
  • Klopford
    Klopford Posts: 129
    I still remember when there were only four food groups...
  • shanmackie
    shanmackie Posts: 194 Member
    the only thing i did in school was making sure you had all 4 food groups in each meal. in the one exercise you had to draw a meal on a paper plate that had all 4 food groups.

    i made a peanut butter and jelly (probably preserves, so it actually was fruit) with a glass of milk.

    the teacher told me i didn't get it right and i had to do it again. :( it's all 4!!! protein, fruit/veg, bread, dairy!
  • clarkeje1
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,641 Member
    This is great. Love those sites!
  • jcjsjones
    jcjsjones Posts: 571 Member
    My son had a class called Consumer Family Living. I guess this is the modern-day "home ec". In this class, they learned about nutrition, healthy cooking, laundry, budgets, and tons of other things. I was really impressed!! He is in the 6th grade and they advance the education every year until 8th grade. His teacher said that by the time they enter high school they can cook full healthy meals, balance checkbooks, set family budgets, sew, etc.

    I just wish these things were taught when I was in middle school! I wouldn't have had to learn it the hard way!!

    ETA: I totally took advantage of the "laundry" homework..lol!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    My daughter is 4 and in preschool and my son is 7 and in first grade. They aren't learning to the extent that you are describing, but they learn the new "healthy" food pyramid and it is a huge help for me as a parent. When they want sweets, it just takes a quick reminder to enjoy them sparingly.

    I'm a huge fan of teaching kids this in a fun way when they are young! The only thing I would argue is not to be afraid of fat...a good amount of healthy fats keep me full.

    My son is in 8th grade. That is probably why it's more in depth. I totally agree about fat. In the 80s, the food pyramid ranked fats up there with sugar. But I agree that we should not be afraid of fats.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    ETA: I totally took advantage of the "laundry" homework..lol!

    As well you should have! Laundry sucks! LOL
  • jcjsjones
    jcjsjones Posts: 571 Member
    It was awesome! He had to seperate, pretreat, set the settings, and put in the right amount of detergent, fabric softener, etc. All I had to do was sit back and watch. Of course, now he won't have anything to do with it... :grumble:
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    It was awesome! He had to seperate, pretreat, set the settings, and put in the right amount of detergent, fabric softener, etc. All I had to do was sit back and watch. Of course, now he won't have anything to do with it... :grumble:

    For a while, I had the kids on laundry duty. I got tired of wrinkled clothes and took over again.
  • belladonna786
    belladonna786 Posts: 1,165 Member
    I really do wish they went into it more in my kids school. They do teach them a lot but none of them had homework like your son did, I would have liked for them to have had that assignment.

    It is so important to instil the importance of proper nutrition when they are young so that they can make informed conscious decisions about what they put into their bodies and how important it is for their long term health.

    Thankfully I have been vigilant about what I feed me kids since they were babies. Hopefully they carry that with them when they are able to make their own food choices.

    Great thread Wendy.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    I still remember when there were only four food groups...

    Bottle, bag, box and can.....right? ;-)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I suppose it's better than nothing, but I'm not sure the USDA is the best resource to learn about nutrition.
  • Sweetsugar0424
    Sweetsugar0424 Posts: 451 Member
    I just got emailed today about an assignment my has to do over Christmas break which is essentially cooking me a healthy meal :) While they don't seem to use too much detail like yours seems to (my son's in grade 9), I like that they are encouraging them to plan a meal out completely from start to finish and having it well balanced.

    Unfortunately I wasn't taught how to cook while at home and grew up eating a lot of processed foods and so I carried that in to my parenting and it wasn't until a year ago that I really starting learning how to cook and enjoy foods more so I haven't been so good at teaching my son either. I'm hoping that he's now learning through his cooking class and seeing what I'm doing in the kitchen, that I can get him properly trained before he heads out on his own.

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