Concept: Adequate food is essential for an active and healthy
life
Content
Food is essential for life. To be healthy and well
nourished, we must have adequate amounts of a variety of good-quality, safe
foods. Without adequate nutrition, children and young people cannot develop their potential to
the fullest and adults will experience difficulty in maintaining or expanding
theirs.
Food provides us with the energy we need for growth, physical activity and
the basic body functions (breathing, thinking, temperature control, blood
circulation and digestion). Food also supplies us with the materials to build
and maintain the body and to promote resistance to disease.
These different functions are made possible by the nutrients contained in
food. The types of nutrients in food are: carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
vitamins, minerals and water. All foods contain one or more of these nutrients
in varying amounts. Each type of nutrient serves particular functions. This is
why diversity in our diets is important for good health. We need all of the
nutrients, provided by a variety of foods, for all of our body processes.
Too much food or an improper balance of food can contribute to poor health
and the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and
diabetes.
Good nutrition also depends on keeping food safe to eat and preserving
its nutritional quality.
Activities
Discuss the points listed above as time allows and according to the students'
background and needs. Tell students that food has substances that are
essential for life. Some of these are in quantities that are so tiny that we cannot see them,
but without them our body systems will not work. These substances are all
found in food, but in many different foods, so we must eat a variety of foods
to make sure that we get all of them in our diets.
The fact sheet: Food Gives Us... provides general
information on nutrition, including the functions of the energy nutrients:
proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Food sources are listed for these three
energy nutrients, as well as for four vitamins and minerals: vitamin A, B
vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D, iron and iodine. Pass out or hold up the fact sheet and discuss
the nutrients listed. Ask students to make a list of the foods they eat in a
typical day, to see if their foods provide the variety needed to obtain the
nutrients listed. For instance, do their lists contain foods rich in protein,
vitamin A, iron. If they do not contain foods rich in one or more
of the listed nutrients, discuss with students what foods could be added to
their diets to provide the needed nutrients.
Concept: Hunger affects the well-being of people, nations and the world
Content:
The strength of a nation depends on the strength of
its people. When people are healthy, strong and well nourished, they have the
energy, creativity, security and courage to solve problems, create great works
of art and music, contribute to scientific advances and live their daily lives
with dignity and joy, ultimately advancing civilization to new heights.
Well-fed citizens are productive citizens who contribute to their society.
People who are not well nourished do not have the energy to work or to learn
and often need constant medical care. The costs in lost potential, as well as
the costs of the health care system, can be staggering for a society.
Activities
Discuss the issues listed above with students. Ask
them to name great people in their community, their country or the world,
from either the past or the present. List the names of other people, whom the students
might recognise, who have changed the course of their nation or world. Ask
students to imagine the difference in the world if these people had been too
malnourished, hungry or ill to do the work that they did. Tell the students how important
it is to all of us that each person in the world be able to function at their
full potential. Lost potential hurts us all.
