by SMT

Created on: January 26, 2009

With the childhood obesity epidemic reaching catastrophic proportions, it's important for young children to understand the importance of proper nutrition and exercise, and develop behaviors that transfer into adulthood. Many studies have revealed that maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise as an adolescent progresses into adulthood, and similarly where as children who are overweight or obese as children are almost certain to remain so into adulthood.

The United States Department of Agriculture has recognized this and has created reliable and valid resources from leading experts in childhood nutrition, tailored to meet the needs of children at various educational levels and developmental stages. With these lesson plans a teacher does not have to be an expert in nutrition and can educate students using a variety of methods that instill healthy behaviors in grade-schoolers.

Mypyramid.gov (http://www.mypyramid.gov/index.html) offers educators the most comprehensive lesson plans than any other site. To begin finding meaningful lessons, on the left side of the page is a hyperlink "For Kids (6 11)" designed specifically for the age group that contains numerous learning activities that include: a My Blast off Pyramid Game, reproducible PDF posters, Tips for Families, coloring pages, worksheets, and classroom materials.

By clicking on the classroom materials link you will be re-directed to the Resource Library that contains targeted curriculum broken down into level 1, 2, and 3. Level 1 is designed for 1st and 2nd graders, level 2 for 3rd and 4th graders, and level 3 for 5th and 6th graders. All lesson plans are downloadable in PDF format and all schools and child care centers that participate in the Federal Child Nutrition Programs are eligible to have printed materials sent directly to them.

Further, each level lesson plan includes an introduction for the teacher that provides a snapshot of the plan and what is included. The lessons are detailed with lesson highlights, objectives, curriculum connections, skills developed, and supplies needed. The teacher can choose to implement individual and or group activities with students to achieve the desired learning experience.

The site also sponsors a Team Nutrition program (http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/team.html) that schools can sign up for to implement good nutrition and exercise programs in schools. These health promotion programs take the guess work out and help the school achieve maximum benefit. The program is designed to help schools teach students five behavioral outcomes: 1.) Eat a variety of foods, 2.) Eat more fruits, vegetables and grains, 3.) Eat lower fat foods more often, 4.) Get calcium rich foods and, 5.) Be physically active.

For educators, finding relevant materials to help students develop healthy behaviors is easy with the USDA and Mypyramid.gov. The easy to use website, gives teachers the opportunity to make a real and lasting impact of the health of their students, while also making it uncomplicated and fun!

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