Why is food important?

Summary: The activity teaches students about different foods and the vitamins they supply. A drawing helps identify how the body uses the basic vitamins and minerals. The group compares well-fed children to hungry children and discusses the physical effects of hunger.

Time: 30 minutes

Age: Six to 10

Materials: Newsprint
Crayons
"Nutrients you Need" worksheet

Preparation: Gather materials. You can get newsprint from the Oregonian at no cost.
Label each food with the vitamin associated with it.

Group size: 20

Procedure:

1. Ask for four volunteers.

2. Roll out the newsprint and ask the volunteers to draw outlines of the human body on the paper.

3. Hand out the "Nutrients you Need" worksheet. Ask students about the different vitamins and why they are important. For example, "Where does vitamin A come from? What part of your body does it help?"

4. Ask the students what foods people eat for breakfast. Use the traced body outlines to have the students draw the foods on the part of the body that benefits from the vitamins in that food. For example, if they name carrots, have them draw carrots on the eyes of the body outline. Items from breakfast will be placed on the first outlined body.

5. Repeat the activity on the second and third body outlines. The second body outline represents what people eat for lunch and the third represents what they eat for dinner. Leave the fourth body outline empty.

6. Ask the children how they feel when they are hungry and how this fourth "child" might feel.

7. Use the Health Consequences of Hunger worksheet below to discuss how hunger might affect the fourth figure. Tell students that the absence of food is a reality to many people in Oregon and across the United States.

Other Details:

Worksheet: Health Consequences of Hunger

Health Consequences

FACT: Under-nutrition (not eating enough) and malnutrition (not eating enough nutrients for proper development) can lead to death for children world-wide.

FACT: Undernourished pregnant women often have low birth weight babies. These babies are more likely to suffer from physical illness and impaired growth and development. Undernourished babies are more likely to die during their first year of life

FACT: Children and pregnant women have high nutrient needs. They are often the first to have health consequences due to nutrient deficiencies

FACT: Chronic hunger in adults weakens bones and muscles, increases risk of illness, makes existing health problems worse and contributes to depression and lack of energy.

Behavioral Consequences

FACT: Children who are hungry may be less attentive and curious than other children. They often have difficulty concentrating. Their reading, verbal and motor skills can suffer. They are absent more often from school and have higher drop out rates.

FACT: Even short-term nutritional deficiencies can affect a child’s ability to concentrate and perform complex tasks.

FACT: In adults, hunger causes nervousness, irritability and difficulty concentrating.

FACT: Hunger can have an emotional impact as well. It may diminish self-confidence and self-esteem. In a culture that encourages self-reliance, people hesitate to seek help. They may feel embarrassed or ashamed that they need food assistance.