I. Objectives: Following This Session, Students Will Be Able To

Healthy Ever After: Kids!
Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Torrance Unified School District
Prepared by Emily Parker, MS, RD

Session 1b: “Restaurant Round-Up – Finding Healthy Foods on the Menu!”
Kindergarten through Second Grade

I. Objectives: Following this session, students will be able to:

a. Name at least two healthy choices, specifically those available at restaurants, from each food group

a. Identify foods in example kids’ meals that contain primarily empty calories, and explain how often to consume such foods for optimal health

b. Sort balanced vs. unbalanced restaurant kids’ meals

c. Suggest changes to unbalanced meals that will result in a healthier balance for each meal

II. Instructor: Classroom teacher and/or parent docent

III. Target Audience: Students in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classes of Torrance Unified School District

a. Note: Consider teaching Lesson 1a My Fabulous Plate to kindergarten students

IV. Setting: Classroom

V. Materials:

a. Kids USDA MyPlate Poster – posted on wall/board

VI. Total Session Time: 30-45 minutes

a. Lesson Time: 15-30 minutes

b. Activity Time (Optional): 15 minutes

c. (Snack Time: 10-15 minutes)

VII. Preparation

a. Review Notes, Practice Lesson

b. Collect/Compile Materials

c. Snack – Coordinated with food service personnel

VIII. Lesson Outline

a. Introduction

i. Instructor introduction(s) using fruit/vegetable name(s) (i.e. “Linda Lime”).

ii. Explain that we are going to talk about food and how to eat to be healthy and strong

iii. Today’s topic: “Restaurant Round-Up – Finding Healthy Foods on the Menu!”

b. Introduce MyPlate poster and MyPlate slide on PowerPoint (children raise hands to answer questions)

i. “Has anyone ever seen this poster before?”

ii. “What do you see on the poster?”

iii. “What do you notice about the poster?” (Point out the “Find your balance between food and fun.” and “Eat well. Be active. Have fun.” quotes and expand on those ideas as is appropriate.)

iv. “Great observations! I also notice that the plate has a mix of different foods and colors. That is how our meals should be – a mix of different foods and as colorful as a rainbow! Sometimes when we eat at restaurants our plates don’t quite look like this poster. But, we can learn how to find healthy foods at restaurants so that our meals DO look like this poster when we are eating out!”

c. Review Always vs. Sometimes Foods on MyPlate Poster

i. “As a review, some foods are “ALWAYS” foods.” (Move to ALWAYS FOODS slide) “We can eat them at every meal. What are ALWAYS foods that you can think of?” (Allow children to respond)

ii. “That’s right, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, protein foods (like chicken, fish, beans, nuts, eggs, and turkey), dairy foods (yogurt, milk), and water are all ALWAYS foods. We need some of each of them every day to stay healthy and strong, just like this MyPlate poster shows.”

iii. “What are some healthy ALWAYS foods we can find at restaurants?” (Let students respond – add or subtract from your verbal list accordingly – see list below.) “You are right. There are some ALWAYS foods at restaurants. Things like low-fat milk, water, yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, salads, vegetables, baked potatoes, grilled chicken, grilled fish, corn tortillas, brown rice, whole wheat bread, and black beans.”

i. Other ALWAYS foods at restaurants:

a. Salad (not too much dressing or dressing on the side), vegetables in stir fry, vegetables in bowl, vegetables in sandwich, vegetables in soup, replace French fries with salad, etc.

b. Fruit in parfait, apple slices, orange slices, fruit cup instead of French fries, bring a piece of fruit with us from home…)

c. Bread, Rice, Tortilla, Noodles, etc. – if it seems appropriate emphasize brown rice, whole wheat bread, corn tortillas – mention going “slow” on the butter…

d. Grilled or white meat chicken, roasted turkey breast, not fried shrimp, grilled fish, plain hamburger patty, tofu…)

e. Low fat milk, soy milk, or yogurt. Mention a small serving of cheese is okay.

f. Water

iv. “Now, what about cookies? Candy? Donuts? French Fries? Soda?”

i. “Those foods taste good, but they don’t help our bodies stay strong and healthy.”

ii. “It is okay to eat small amounts of those foods SOMETIMES.” (Move to SOMETIMES FOOD slide.) “That’s why we call them SOMETIMES foods.” (Also can talk about them as “fairy dust foods” or “sprinkle foods”)

v. “As you may have noticed, there are a lot of SOMETIMES foods at restaurants, aren’t there? What are the SOMETIMES foods you find at restaurants?” (Let students respond – add or subtract from your verbal list accordingly – examples: doughnuts, French fries, fried chicken, soda, lemonade, milkshakes, ice cream, etc.) “Wow. That is quite a list of SOMETIMES foods. I bet that if you eat at restaurants a lot it would be easy to eat TOO MANY SOMETIMES foods. Would that be healthy for our bodies?” (No!) “So, to take care of our bodies we should be sure to choose the ALWAYS foods at restaurants and only have the SOMETIMES foods SOMETIMES (maybe once a week at most)!”

d. Rate the Restaurant Plate

i. “I have some pictures of kids’ meals from different restaurants. We are going to look at each picture and you can help me decide if each meal is healthy and matched the MyPlate poster, or if it needs some improvements. Then we can decide how we would improve the less healthy meals. Are you ready?”

Move through pictures of kids’ meals and discuss the positive and negative aspects of each one. Possible comments:

i. Choose only one breakfast meat, replace fruit with syrup/whipped cream with fresh fruit

ii. Choose one hamburger patty instead of two

iii. Reduce or eliminate the French fries, chips, cookies and replace with fruit or vegetables/salad.

iv. Choose unflavored milk instead of chocolate milk

v. Replace fruit juice, soda or lemonade with water

vi. Choose whole grain bread

vii. Choose brown rice instead of white rice

viii. Marinara sauce instead of cream sauce

ix. Etc.

e. Optional Activity if Interest and Time:
Distribute MyPlate coloring sheets and crayons/markers to students.
“Okay. Let’s pretend we are all going to go out to lunch (or dinner) today! First, where are we going to go?” (Try to help the children choose a restaurant that would have healthy choices – i.e. Panda Express, Chipotle, Subway, McDonalds, Wendy’s,…) “Okay. Now, let’s work together to make a balanced, “MyPlate” meal full of ALWAYS foods. As we choose a food for each section, take a minute to draw that food in your plate!”
“Now, for our vegetables, what will we have? (Salad (not too much dressing or dressing on the side), vegetables in stir fry, vegetables in bowl, vegetables in sandwich, vegetables in soup, replace French fries with salad, etc.). And for our fruits? (Fruit in parfait, apple slices, orange slices, fruit cup instead of French fries, bring a piece of fruit with us from home…) How about grains? (Bread, Rice, Tortilla, Noodles, etc. – if it seems appropriate emphasize brown rice, whole wheat bread, corn tortillas – mention going “slow” on the butter…) And protein foods? (Grilled or white meat chicken, roasted turkey breast, not fried shrimp, grilled fish, plain hamburger patty, tofu…) What are we missing? Oh yeah! The dairy foods – how about low fat milk, soy milk, or yogurt? We can also drink water with our meal, right?”
“Awesome! You all helped create an amazing pretend restaurant meal full of ALWAYS foods. I hope that the next time you are at a restaurant you choose ALWAYS foods!”

f. Closing

i. “Great job today! We learned all about what our plates should look like and always versus sometimes foods. Now we know more about how to choose foods and how to eat to grow strong and healthy, especially when we are at a restaurant. Does anyone have any questions?”

IX. Snack: Parfaits

i. “Very good! Today we are going to enjoy a healthy snack called a parfait. (“par-fay”). It is a mixture of three ALWAYS foods. What three ALWAYS foods does a parfait contain? (Dairy (yogurt), Fruit, Grains (granola)) Did you know you can find parfaits at lots of restaurants and stores?”

ii. Serve/Distribute snack or snack items to children

i. ¼ cup of yogurt cup into each bowl/cup

ii. Spoon 2 Tbsp fruit into yogurt

iii. Sprinkle 1 to 2 Tablespoons of granola over fruit in each bowl

iv. Eat with spoon, have napkin on hand

iii. Enjoy snack

***Note: You will need to coordinate with the other docents and the food service personnel on snack timing. The food and all supplies will be with the food service personnel. Please inform the TUSD Nutrition Services Staff ASAP which day your school will be serving the snack.***

Healthy Ever After: Kids!
Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Torrance Unified School District
Prepared by Emily Parker, MS, RD

Session 1b: “Restaurant Round-Up – Finding Healthy Foods on the Menu!”
Third through Fifth Grade

I. Objectives: Following this session, students will be able to:

a. Identify which foods belong to each food group

b. Name at least two healthy choices from each food group

c. Name the appropriate portion size for foods in each group

d. Identify foods that contain primarily empty calories, and explain how much of and how often to consume such foods for optimal health

e. Plan a healthy meal at a fast food/take out restaurant

II. Instructor: Classroom teacher and/or parent docent

III. Target Audience: Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade classes of Torrance Unified School District

IV. Setting: Classroom

V. Materials:

a. US Food Plate Poster – posted on wall/board

b. Handy Portions Poster – posted on wall/board

c. Handy Portions Handouts

VI. Total Session Time: 30-45 minutes

a. Lesson Time: 15-30 minutes

b. Activity Time (Optional): 15 minutes

c. (Snack Time: 10-15 minutes)

VII. Preparation

b. Review Notes, Practice Lesson

c. Collect/Compile Materials

d. Snack – Coordinated with food service personnel – Students can serve themselves with supervision

X. Lesson Outline

a. Introduction

i. Instructor introduction(s) using fruit/vegetable name(s) (i.e. “Linda Lime”).

ii. Explain that we are going to talk about food and how to eat to be healthy and strong

iii. Today’s topic: “Restaurant Round-Up – Finding Healthy Foods on the Menu!”

b. Review MyPlate Poster (children raise hands to answer questions)

i. “Has anyone ever seen this poster before?”

ii. “What do you see on the poster?”

iii. “What do you notice about the poster?” (Let kids know that the poster will be up in the classroom for ______hours/days so that they can look at it on their own after the lesson.)

iv. “Well, we are going to learn all about this fabulous plate today. Not only does this fabulous plate show us what to eat. It helps us think about how much of each food we should eat. Sometimes we eat too much of certain foods and not enough of others. So, we are going to review the correct portion sizes today. Now. Let’s get started!”

c. Review Always vs. Sometimes Foods on MyPlate Poster

i. “As a review, some foods are “ALWAYS” foods.” (Move to ALWAYS FOODS slide) “We can eat them at every meal. What are ALWAYS foods that you can think of?” (Allow children to respond)

iii. “Now, what about SOMETIMES foods. What do I mean by SOMETIMES foods? Can you name some?” (Cookies, Candy, Donuts, French Fries, Soda, etc.)

i. “That’s right, sometimes foods often taste good, but they don’t help our bodies stay strong and healthy.”

iv. “It is okay to eat small amounts of those foods SOMETIMES, and less often, maybe one time per day at the most.” (Also can talk about them as “fairy dust foods” or “sprinkle foods”)

d. The Food Groups – Reviewing Portion Size

i. “When we think about eating ALWAYS and SOMETIMES foods, it’s also important to think about portion size or how much of these foods we eat.”

ii. “As you probably remember, HALF of our plates should be filled with fruits and vegetables. That means we should eat lots of fruits and vegetables every day, at least FIVE servings per day (that means two fruits and three vegetables, or more); fruits and vegetables are “ALWAYS” foods – we can eat them at every meal. They make good snacks too! A serving of fruit is about the size of your fist (ask students to hold up one fist). A serving of vegetables is the size of one to two fists (ask students to hold up two fists).” (Refer to Portion Size poster)

iii. “Grains are also “ALWAYS” foods – we can eat them at every meal. In fact, we should try to eat at least four servings per day. Whole grains like whole wheat bread, brown rice, and oatmeal are the healthiest. It is best to choose grains that are low in sugar and are not fried. At each meal, we should eat a serving of grains about the size of one fist (cereal, pasta, rice), or one to two slices of bread.” (Refer to Portion Size poster)

iv. “As you know, protein foods are “ALWAYS” foods – we can eat them at every meal. Protein foods that are not greasy are healthiest – so baked and grilled meats are better than fried meats. And, it is a good idea to take the skin off our chicken or cut the fat off a pork chops or steaks before we eat them. A serving of protein food is different for every type of protein food, but in general, it is about the size of the palm of your hand (no fingers) and about half an inch thick (show using your hand; that is the portion size after the meat is cooked). Different people need different amounts of protein foods, but it is best to eat them at least twice per day.” (Refer to Portion Size poster)

v. “Dairy foods are milk, yogurt/kefir, and cheese. Some people drink goat’s milk, soymilk, rice milk, or almond milk instead of cow’s milk. Dairy foods are “ALWAYS” foods – we can eat them at every meal. Unflavored milk is healthier than chocolate or strawberry milk because it doesn’t have as much sugar. And, 1% or fat-free milk and yogurt are the best choices. A serving of dairy food is about the size of your fist, or one small cup. We should have three servings per day.” (Refer to Portion Size poster.)