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.

Healthy Froot Loops

My husband went to the grocery store this weekend for the family. Usually he's not very health conscious in his shopping habits, so I was happy to see that he purchased this cereal with high nutritional value! Clearly we can see from the label that our family life is about to get so much better, now that our kids are becoming healthier by eating high fiber Froot Loops! (Why do you think they are "Froot", not "Fruit" Loops?) Actually, I thought this was a great example of the differences between "advertising" and "labeling". Yes, Froot Loops now have more fiber, but are they actually healthy? The advertising suggests that they are, but a look at the long list on ingredients on the label might suggest otherwise. Notice what the #1 ingredient is! The kids in your health class could be assigned to bring in examples of other foods with health benefits labels and discuss why or why not the claims on them have merit, and what other foods might be a better choice. Oatmeal anyone?

India.Arie - Video

You can watch this music video on youtube. I liked the lyrics about liking herself the way she is. Here are the lyrics:

Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be the india arie

When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be the
india arie

Am I less of a lady if I don't wear pantyhose?
My mama said a lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all an illusion, confusion's the name of the
game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change
but,Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson I was sent here to share with
y'all
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Clear your mind, now's the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go on and love yourself
'Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be the india arie

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your Kristal and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of crystal
Don't need your silicone I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be india arie

World's Fattest Man

Wow - Sad - Speechless!

Childhood Obesity - Type 2 Diabetes

Interesting ABC news report highlighting childhood obesity & rising rates of type 2 diabetes in children.

Train Anywhere - Just Like Rocky!

This video shows that you don't need lots of fancy equipment to get fit. Or, as one of the comments said "The moral of the story? If you want to become a boxing champion, train like a woodcutter. Simple"

Breathing Exercises

Great video to get your class to chillax for a while. Is that a word? My kids tell me it is.

I Want One of These!

How to get great toned arms. Hilarious Shake Weight Exercise for Women Video

Teens Speak

This great publication for teens can be downloaded in its entirety from the NYC health department website. Here is a sample page with recipes for teens to try, but the other pages are good as well. There are sections on soda and fast food, healthy eating tips, healthy weight, and more. The pages are colorful and well-designed and would make good posters. NYC has also recently begun an ad campaign about the excess sugar found in soft drinks. These ads would also make good posters for a classroom.

Nutrition Action Healthletter

The Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest is a fabulous publication filled with all sorts of great information like this list of best and worst foods. It is well-worth the $10 annual subscription price, but if you don't want to pay for it, you can still access valuable information from past issues on line. You can find their archived articles here:http://www.cspinet.org/nah/archives.html. Look at the articles under the heading "Right Stuff vs. Food Porn". Interesting! This is one of my favorite websites!

Sharing the Secret - Part 1

This made for TV movie can be viewed in 10 parts on youtube. Each part is approximately 9 minutes. I thought it was interesting and would appeal to high school students. It could be viewed over several class periods. Here is a synopsis:

Sharing the Secret [TV] (from IMDb) By rights, child psychologist Dr. Nina Moss should be pleased and proud that her daughter Beth is a slim, eternally upbeat overachiever. But Nina suspects that all is not well with Beth–and she’s right. Desperate to be accepted by her family and friends, and determined to be fully in control of her own destiny, Beth has become bulimic, “binging” and “purging” whenever things threaten to get out of hand in her life–or whenever she gains a single pound beyond her “ideal” weight. The winner of a 2001 Peabody Award.

Please, Eat a Cupcake!

These are some examples from the most recent issue of Teen Vogue. Yes, I always read Teen Vogue, don't you? These images are aimed at teens, of course. By the way, the first ad is for the leggings.

Portion Size Visual

This would make a good overhead to show recommended portion sizes. Or you could bring these items into class for a better visual. They were taken from a publication called Just Enough for You. The entire publication can be downloaded or ordered for free from the Weight-control Information Network

Anorexia's Childhood Roots (CBS News)

There are tons of youtube videos about anorexia. Another one that is really interesting, but an extreme example can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKUSGOB-0V8&feature=related

Slim Hopes: Advertising & the Obsession With Thinness

Wellness In Wyoming

There are some good lesson plans on this site. Check out the lessons listed under "Small Victories" on the lower left side of this page. They are written for adults, but could easily be adapted for teens. "Tiny Bites" is included in your resource file. I also liked "The Last Orange on Earth: an activity to teach mindful eating" (right side of same page) and included it in the resource file. It is written for elementary-aged kids, but I think older kids would enjoy it as well. After doing the activity, they could get into small groups and be assigned to come up with a similar activity using a different natural food.

Free Publications

This link is to a listing of free publications distributed by the Weight-control Information Network. You can download them in PDF format or call them and they will send up to 25 to you for FREE! I ordered "Take Charge of Your Health! A Guide For Teenagers!" for the class. When I called, I had no problem getting through to a real person, who was happy to send the order to me. There is some great stuff here!

Interactive DRI (Daily Reference Intakes)

Enter age, sex, height, weight and activity level into this interactive program to calculate BMI and Daily Calorie Needs. You can also check recommended requirements for macronutrients (carbs, fiber, protein, etc), vitamins, and minerals. Students could compare a day's diet (or a meal) with their daily needs. They could also compare their personal daily recommendations with the standard that is used for labeling.

Diet Wars

Frontline: Diet Wars

» About the film:

Americans spend $40 billion a year on books, products, and programs designed to do one thing: help us lose weight. From Atkins to Ornish and Weight Watchers to the South Beach Diet, today's dieters have a dizzying array of weight loss programs from which to choose -- yet the underlying principles of these diets are often contradictory. Is low fat better than low carb? Is Atkins the answer? And has the USDA food pyramid done more harm than good? FRONTLINE examines the great diet debate

Frontline: Diet Wars. Companion website and teaching guide. Lots of lesson plans, activities, and discussion ideas for teachers.

Video can be accessed in entirety at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/ in Windows Media and RealPlayer. It is also listed on the UEN Emedia page, but I was unable to download it (maybe because it isn't compatible with Quicktime). The DVD can be purchased on the Diet Wars website for $30. Looks worth it to me.

Science of Obesity

A 28 year old man weighs over 500 lbs and decides to undergo gastric bypass. This is a 3 minute youtube video.

Dying to Be Thin

Dying to be Thin

Originally broadcast on December 12, 2000. The film examines a disturbing increase in the prevalence of debilitating and sometimes life-threatening eating disorders, particularly anorexia and bulimia. Available through emedia at uen.org.

Companion website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/

Time Magazine for Kids

Time Magazine for Kids is geared more for elementary age students. However, the "Play60 Challenge" has some great suggestions for ways teachers can incorporate short exercise breaks into their classroom. These short breaks would probably be welcome for students (and teachers) in any classroom. Also included are some suggestions for ways kids can be active at home, and a classroom chart to keep track of how active the class is. Click on the teacher guide under the heading "featured partner" to access this PDF.

Interactive computer activities from the UEN website for grades 7-12, including a Meal Planner, Rate Your Restaurant Diet, Dining Decisions, BMI Calculator, and Food Pyramid Challenge. These may be good activities for homework assignments.

Portion Distortion Powerpoint

CAlled Portion Distortion, this powerpoint "quiz" compares today's food portion sizes with typical portion sizes from 20 years ago. Also shows how much activity would be required to work off different calorie intakes. Highly recommended!