EATING WELL WITH CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE

Canada’s Food Guide  Organizes food into 4 groups  Recommends number of servings  Provides estimate of serving size  Does not say how much to eat – this varies depending on how active a person is, how much they weigh, etc.

History of Canada’s Food Guide  * Write down 2 facts from the list below! *  Originally had 6 groups  Eggs and fish were once their own individual categories  Canadians were encouraged to limit the amount of sugar, salt, fat, and alcohol they consumed  Vegetables & Fruit moved to the top of the rainbow

 What are empty calories?  Almost everything we eat or drink has calories. Empty calories are those that do not contain any nutrients other than fat, sodium, and sugar and often high volumes of calories.  How do you think that dividing foods into 4 groups can help us make healthy choices?

Why Follow Canada’s Food Guide?  Variety: receive all vitamins and nutrients but have different foods from each group every day  Serving size: 8 servings of vegetables and fruits may seem overwhelming but serving sizes are smaller than some people imagine

Accessing food in remote communities  Choose one point to write down*  If you go into local grocery stores, you may see fresh fruits & vegetables for sale all year long.  In remote communities, such as northern Canada, almost all fresh produce needs to be shipped from far away therefore, higher prices  In northern Canada, many communities hunt for their own food

Food For Thought  Olivia drinks a large hot chocolate every afternoon after swim practice. She says that she burns off the calories when she swims, so she is not worried about it. Is her reasoning sound? Why or why not?  Which do you think is healthier – a bowl of sweetened breakfast cereal with milk or whole-grain toast with butter and jam? Explain.

Be active  Being active is just as important as eating a healthy diet  Physical activity helps to:  Maintain an appropriate weight  Build/maintain strong muscles  Reduce the risk of disease ie. Heart, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers  Maintain mental health

Energy drinks  Marketed as convenient ways to increase/maintain energy that can be used for studying or to play sports  Unfortunately, contain large amounts of sugar and caffeine and have been linked to seizures and heart problems  Due to changing bodies, some health organizations have called for the sale of energy drinks to be banned for children  In Canada, they are not banned but rather considered a food product so information must be listed on can.

School Nutrition Policies  According to studies, students who have healthy diets have improved brain functioning  Many provinces have enacted school nutrition guidelines that are based on Canada’s Food Guide and the trans fat (which increase our risk of type 2 diabetes) recommendations Ie. No caffeine, promote water, attention to serving sizes

Activity  Modifying menus – page 62 & 63  Look at each menu and make modifications to each meal to follow the Eating Well With Canada’s Food Guide guidelines.

Activity 2  Read page 16 and answer the questions at the bottom of the page