Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Part A: Healthy Eating Patterns

20 minutes

Part B: Meal Planning For Health

5 minute

Reflection

Part A: Healthy Eating Patterns

Step 1.

Start by asking students what they had for dinner last night. Do they think this was a healthy meal? Why? What aspects of it were good for their bodies? What aspects were less healthy?

Remember that it’s okay to have fast food some of the time, just so long as we’re making healthier eating choices the majority of the time.

Step 2.

Facilitate a discussion about what students already know about healthy eating patterns. As students make suggestions, use the below information adapted from the Heart Foundation Heart-Healthy Eating Patterns to supplement students’ understanding.

Healthy eating patterns should:

Include plenty of vegetables, fruits and wholegrains - this means less white bread and more multigrain or wholemeal. It’s recommended to have five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit per day.
Include a variety of healthy protein-rich foods - especially fish and seafood, legumes (such as beans and lentils), nuts and seeds. Smaller amounts of eggs and poultry (such as chicken) can also be included in a Heart-Healthy Eating Patterns. If choosing red meat, make sure the meat is lean and limited to 1-3 times a week.
Choose unflavoured milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Include healthy fat and oils, including nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and their oils for cooking. Our bodies do need some fats to help us grow and develop. These are known as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats and are great for your overall health, your cholesterol levels, and help lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Minimise the amount of trans fats. These are the fats that aren't so good for us. Small amounts occur naturally in meat and dairy. But it’s artificial trans fats that are considered dangerous. These are found in fried foods like chips and burgers and increase our risk of heart disease.
Flavour food with herbs and spices instead of salt. Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Herbs and spices are a healthier way to make food taste fabulous.

Step 3.

Now ask students to think of some less healthy eating patterns.

Less healthy eating patterns involve:

Inadequate intakes of foods associated with a decreased risk of disease, such as vegetables, legumes, fruit, wholegrain cereals and nuts. Trends indicate that the proportion of Australian adults not meeting the recommended intake for vegetables has increased over the past two decades to 92%.
Portions that are too large. This can potentially lead to overweight, obesity or diabetes, which also increase the risk of heart disease.
Excessive intake of discretionary foods. These are foods that are not an essential or necessary part of a healthy and balanced eating pattern and are high in kilojoules, saturated fat, added sugars and salt. Discretionary foods are estimated to account for 35% of the average Australian adult’s daily energy intake. In 2010, Australian households spent, on average, considerably less each week on vegetables ($13.70) than on discretionary foods, such as takeaway ($30.50) and confectionery ($11.77).

Step 4.

Independently, students research the five food group areas using https://healthy-kids.com.au/food-nutrition/5-food-groups/. Students record their findings using the Student Worksheet.

Step 5.

As a class, discuss your findings. Was there anything that students didn’t know that they found out? Was there anything surprising uncovered in their investigations?

Historically, nutrition science has focused on the isolation of individual nutrients in foods and the study of their effects on the risk and/or incidence of diseases. However, this approach is at odds with the way individuals and populations eat. When communicating healthy eating messages, a nutrient approach does not adequately represent the relationship between foods, eating patterns and health. Globally, there is a shift in research and guidelines to recognise that foods and dietary patterns, rather than individual nutrients, can better support both individual diet counselling and population dietary recommendations, as well as food policy, to improve the overall eating pattern.

Mozaffarian (2016). "Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity: A Comprehensive Review." Circulation, 133 (2): 187-225.

Part B: Meal Planning For Health

Step 1.

Explain to students that they are going to create a meal plan for a whole week, demonstrating their understanding of healthier and less healthy eating patterns. That means every meal and snack accounted for on every day, staying within the healthy eating pattern guidelines.

At least five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit per day.
Preferably fish and seafood, legumes, nuts and seeds. Small amounts of eggs and poultry and a small serving of lean red meat limited to 1-3 times per week.
Unflavoured milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Add less salt, sugar and unhealthy fats. Don't forget to include some healthy fats like olive oil, avocado and nuts.

Step 2.

Remember that taste is a key driver of food choices! Enjoying food is a highly motivating factor for why we eat what we do. This is why it's easy to be drawn into unhealthy eating patterns by sugary treats. But healthy eating is certainly delicious too, and taking control of what you eat doesn't have to mean limiting flavour or enjoyment of food. Encourage students to be willing to try new foods and explore new flavours. It can sometimes take over 20 times before liking a new food.

The combined evidence suggests that improving the entire eating pattern, not simply altering one nutrient or food, is required to promote cardiovascular health. There are a variety of eating patterns that promote cardiovascular health and reduce cardiovascular risk factors. Irrespective of the differences between these eating patterns (often referred to as ‘diets'), the similarities between them suggest that it is the quality of the foods regularly included in the diet, as well as their combination and quantity, that is associated with greater health benefits, rather than the consumption of individual nutrients, or specific foods in isolation.

Heart Foundation Australia Dietary Position Statement

Step 3.

Independently or in small groups, students use a combination of this healthy lunchbox builder (https://healthylunchbox.com.au/builder/), the recipe section of the Heart Foundation website (https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/search/recipes), or use some of the meals they regularly eat at home, to build a variety of meals. Students can record their ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Reflection

Ask students to reflect on what might contribute to the formation of less healthy eating patterns. Currently, diet quality is unequally distributed in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, vulnerable cultural groups and those living in remote communities or of relative disadvantage are less likely than other Australians to buy healthy food and consume a healthy diet. Why? Factors could include cost, a lack of access to healthier alternatives, or simply the formation of unhealthy habits at a young age that mean unhealthy choices are automatically made from then on.

Encourage students to have an empathetic view of people’s eating habits, as it is not always as simple as making 'healthy' choices.

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Students could make meals from their meal plan using the school's kitchen garden (if you have access to one) or at home, and take photos to create a visually engaging multi-media piece in combination with their written meal plan.
For an extra challenge, students could investigate seasonal or native foods of the area where they live, adapting their meal plans accordingly.

Provisions for Learning Support - Teachers might print images of some of the lunchboxes and recipes from the website. Students could then choose the ones that are most visually appealing and cut and paste these onto an A3 printout of the Student Worksheet.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

• What worked well?
• What didn't work well?
• What would you share?
• Where to next?
• How are you going to get there?

Jump Rope For Heart - Ingredients For Health

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