How to Teach Children About Food Labels

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in this country. In order to avoid the serious health implications that accompany obesity, children need to be educated about proper food choices. One of the best ways to help students make healthy food choices is to teach them about food labels. The information contained on a food label tells consumers a great deal of information about the healthfulness of the foods they purchase. Teach students to decipher these labels so that they can gain knowledge about the foods they eat and make better dietary choices.

Things You'll Need

• Empty food packaging

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Instructions

• 1

  Start your lesson by providing students with packaging from some of their favorite foods. You could ask them to bring a package of their favorite treat with them, or you can save the empty packages up and distribute them to students. By having actual food packaging present, students will be able to apply the knowledge that they are acquiring to real life situations and make educated judgments about the foods they ingest daily.

• 2

  Review the serving size and number of servings. Draw students' attention to the top of the food label where the serving size is listed. Frequently students make the error of ignoring the serving size and mistakenly think that a food is healthy when in reality, in the quantities that they eat, it is not. Point out to students that many of the packages of food that they eat all at once actually contain multiple servings. Students will be surprised by how small serving sizes are, and amazed as they realize that they frequently consume more than one serving each time they snack.

• 3

  Check the calorie count. Directly below the serving size, students will find the calorie count. Remind students that most dietitians recommend a diet of no more than 2,000 calories per day. Discuss with students how these calories can quickly be exceeded by eating multiple servings of snack foods, and even by drinking several sodas. This is a great time to introduce the concept of empty calories and explain to students that empty calories are calories from which no nutrition is gained.

• 4

  Direct students to the fat and sodium sections of the nutrition label. Discuss these elements with students, and explain that diets low in fat and sodium are best. Explain to students that processed foods tend to be very high in sodium since sodium is used as a preservative in many cases. To avoid sodium, students should eat more fresh or raw foods.

• 5

  Review the carbohydrate content. Discuss the concept of carbohydrates with students and explain that carbohydrates are where the energy in food is stored. Look at the different food label examples and determine which foods are high-energy, or high in carbohydrates, and which are low-energy, or contain fewer carbohydrates.

• 6

  Consult the nutrition label and explore the amount of protein present in each of the foods. Discuss the healthful benefits of a diet rich in protein. Remind students that protein is a vital nutrient and that foods rich in protein are generally healthier than those that contain only trace amounts of protein.

• 7

  Explore the healthful vitamins and minerals present in foods by reviewing the Percent Daily Value section of the food label. Take a look at each nutrient present in this section and discuss which of the example foods contain that nutrient and how much of it they contain. Remind students that they will be healthier if they eat a diet in which they received the full recommended daily value of each of those nutrients.

• 8

  Once you have reviewed the elements present in the food labels, work with students to rank the foods. Using the information gleaned from the labels, determine which foods are healthiest and which contain the least nutritional value. Display the food packaging and rankings in the classroom to remind students to make healthy and informed decisions when they decide what they are going to eat.