Tips for Kids to Make Nutritious Food Choices

Students should have the general understanding that the more nutrients in a food or a beverage, the better it is for your body and brain. The lessons in this unit present a fun and interactive way to learn about sugar content in snacks and drinks. Kids will increase their decision-making skills as they learn how to read a food label to tell if an item contains excessive amounts of sugar. They will plan and advocate for nutritious snack and drink choices that are low in added sugar.

Kids stand, leaving ample space between students. Ask them to run in place as fast as they can for 15 seconds, followed by running in slow motion for 15 seconds. Explain that too much sugar can speed up your energy, but then it slows way down.

Next, ask kids to run in place at a steady pace for 15 seconds—not too fast, and not too slow. Explain that your body uses sugar for energy, and that eating some foods with sugar is okay. If your sugar intake is not too high or too low, your energy is steady.  

Help kids to understand that sugar gives you energy, but more sugar does not give you more energy, it’s the opposite! Just like when you ran really fast then really slow. 

Get ready! We are going to learn all about sugar!

How Sweet it Is!

Let the kids know they will be learning about how to determine which foods have a lot of sugar and which have a little. 

Select player to view The Scoop on Sugar video. 

What's in Your Fuel?

Review what students learned about food and food labels from the video:

• Some foods have a lot of sugar and some have a little.
• Look at the nutrition label to know how much sugar is in your foods and beverages.

Let students know that they are going to learn how to read signs (nutrition labels) to help themselves know how much sugar is in what they eat and drink. 

Check for understanding: Different foods and drinks contain different amounts of  _ _ _ _ _. 

Food Labels

Ask students to bring a nutrition label from a food or drink item to use for an activity with the next lesson.

Print the fit Food Word Search and have kids find the nutritious foods and drinks as an independent activity.

Today we learned that snacks and drinks vary in the amount of sugar they contain. Next, we will learn more about how to read nutrition labels to guide your healthy choices.