Infographics

Here is a link to a list of infographics relating to health issues from a blog called The Health Hut. The example shows rates of adult and childhood obesity for states in our nation. Notice that Utah had the lowest rate of childhood obesity in 2008. The bad news: 23.1% of the 10-17 year olds in our state are still considered obese.

Some of the colorful graphics would look great blown up and printed out to decorate a classroom.

Good News About Stopping Smoking

Here are two good handouts or transparencies about what happens to the body when a smoker QUITS! Thanks Jenny!

Healthy Food Tees

Wouldn't it be fun to teach a nutrition lesson wearing one of these cute Tee-shirts or aprons from foodtee.com? The caption under the apples is "choose me", the one under the berries says "berry good". They have lots of choices on the website.

Reebok Ads

Add these ads to your collection of those that set unrealistic expectations for women's bodies. I agree with this person's comment: "There’s no reason to try to rationalize away the chauvinism in the ads — Reebok doesn’t want you to. From the very text of the website that Meg quotes — “88% of men will be speechless. 78% of women will be jealous” — Reebok makes it clear these shoes are about image and not substance — specifically crafting a woman’s body for men’s eyes. And the main competition they are good for is to continue to foment the battle among women themselves over who better achieves the patriarchal ideal."

More from girlshealth.gov

These are cool ad/posters that could be made into posters for the classroom. Or, have students use these as a sample to make their own ads. More can be found on website.

Another Free Publication/Teacher and Classroom Resources

Teen Survival Guide: Health Tips for On-the-Go Girls. This looks like an interesting booklet for girls, published by girlshealth.gov. The section on reproductive health is simple, clear, and informative. It can be downloaded in PDF format, or ordered for free with a phone call.

The girlshealth.gov website (a division of HHS) also has a lot of links to teacher resources on various health topics. Click here and then explore the link to classroom tools.

Book Recommendation

Quote from Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: "As I write, the FDA has just signed off on a new health claim for Frito-Lay chips on the grounds that eating chips fried in polyunsaturated fats can help you reduce your consumption of saturated fats thereby conferring blessings on your cardiovascular system. So can a notorious junk food pass through the needle eye of nutritionist logic and come out the other side looking like a health food."

Reminds me of the Froot Loop box from yesterday's post. This book contains a different and thoughtful perspective on the meaning of nutrition and health food.