How to Make My Health Pyramid

You may be familiar with the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid, later named My Pyramid, but a lesser-known pyramid is gaining attention. The Harvard School of Public Health has developed a Healthy Eating Pyramid that includes exercise and better food choices. Teachers can help elementary, junior high and high school students create their own Health Pyramid based on the recommendations made by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Things You'll Need

• Poster board
• Markers
• Ruler
• Old food magazines
• Scissors
• Glue

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Give each student a large poster board and instruct them to draw a large triangle in the middle. Students may do this freehand, or use a ruler to make the lines more precise.

• 2

  Separate the triangle into five equal sections by drawing four horizontal lines within the triangle. You may want to have students measure the height of the triangle in inches and then divide the total by five. For example, a triangle that measure 20 inches in height would require a line every 4 inches up from the bottom line.

• 3

  Divide the second section up from the bottom into three equal sections by adding two horizontal lines. The third section up from the bottom of the pyramid needs to be divided in half with one vertical line. This is the final outline of your health pyramid.

• 4

  Instruct students to cut out pictures from a magazine that represent physical activities they like to participate in. These pictures should be glued to the bottom section of the pyramid to show the importance of exercise. One student may have pictures of a soccer ball, kickball and a football, while another student has pictures of various dancers (ballet, jazz and tap). As long as the pictures demonstrate a way to exercise, they are correct.

• 5

  Tell the children to glue pictures of their favorite fruits and veggies in the first column of the second section. Healthy oils go in the middle column of the second section, with grains in the final column of the second section. Favorite fruits and vegetables may include apples, plums, grapes, watermelon, carrots, celery, green beans and peas. Vegetable, soy, olive, corn and sunflower oil will work for the oils category. Finally, children can use pictures of whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, oatmeal and brown rice in the grains category.

• 6

  Guide the students in filling in the first half of the third section with pictures of their favorite nuts, seeds, tofu and beans. Sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds and kidney beans are all good choices for this category. The second half of the third section should contain pictures of fish, eggs and poultry. Turkey, chicken, flounder, salmon, scrambled eggs and hard-boiled eggs are all good examples for this category.

• 7

  Teach students that dairy products go in the fourth section of the health pyramid. Examples of dairy items include milk, yogurt, cheese and butter. Harvard also points out that you can add Vitamin D and calcium supplements to the dairy category.

• 8

  Remind students that the fifth section of the health pyramid is for items that they are to eat occasionally, but not on a regular basis. This includes salt, red meat, breads that are not whole grain, potatoes, sodas, fruit juices with added sugar and dessert items. Let them glue pictures in the last section to represent the items they need to eat sparingly.

• 9

  Finish the project by having the students personalize their health pyramids. The students may label the pyramid "My Health Pyramid," but it will become more realistic if you ask the students to label the pyramid with their own names. For example, "Molly's Health Pyramid," or "Jacob's Health Pyramid." Students can hang the pyramids up at home to keep track of how well they are exercising and eating.