January 2014: Question 1
In the CHANGE study, no differences were seen in whole-grain
consumption, but it is possible that students were unaware of their whole-grain
consumption. How would you teach kids
about whole-grain?
posted by Unknown @ 3:14 PM
30 comments
30 Comments:
I would explain to them that whole grains and foods made from whole grains contain the entire grain seed. The grain seed is known as the kernel and is full of nutritious fiber, B vitamins, several minerals, and protein. In contrast, refined grain products are missing part or all of the kernel and thus have a lesser amount of those nutrients. Therefore, the healthiest choice is to include more whole grain foods on each plate.
I would follow up this explanation with activities that help students identify the components of a whole grain, recognize foods that contain whole grains, and discuss food labels. The Whole Grains Council has great resources on their website, .
I would do a simple education on the make-up of whole grains. I would emphasize the difference between "multi-grain" and "whole-grain". I think supplying the children with examples of where whole-grain might be hidden in their diet might also be helpful.
I would try multiple approaches to help teach the kids about whole grains. The easiest way to reach a larger portion of the children is to make a bulletin board near the cafeteria explaining whole grains. I would also try to target some after-school groups to conduct some nutrition education and use games to help make the learning fun as well as informative.
Sarah S said...
I would first explain what whole grains are (the whole kernel with the bran and not just the refined portion) and use examples of the whole grain items offered at the schools. I would then ask the kids to tell me some other whole grain sources they could think of.
Sarah S said...
I like Lynetta's idea of using the Whole Grains Council's online resources and helping the kids to learn to read food labels.
First I think I would do a lesson with the kids and teach them the difference between whole grains and refined grains and the benefits of whole grains on their health. I would than explain where they can find these whole grains and refined grains in the foods they eat. I think that playing a game with them after the lesson to determine their level of understanding will be a fun way to summarize what they just learned. I also would provide them with a handout to take home because their parents are the ones that do the grocery shopping and may not know the importance of whole grains and where to find them in foods.
I would go over the basics about the difference between whole grains and refined grains and where whole grains can be found in the foods that the child or children eat. If they are old enough to read, I would direct them to look at food labels. A game could be made out of looking at food labels and finding where or if they list whole grains. There are also different apps out there that have made games out of healthy eating and learning what healthy foods are. Some of these apps are "Nutrition and Healthy Eating" "ABC food" "Awesome Eats" and many more.
I like Beth's ideas about getting the information to parents as well. It is important they know about benefits of whole grains also. I also like Emily's idea of a bulletin board. Any kind of exposure gets the word out there.
If funds allow, I think the best way to get kids more interested in whole grains is to have them try it in delicious recipes. If it's possible for them to be involved in the prepping/cooking process, it would be even better. I like the idea Courtney have of using nutrition labels for education. I think children learn best when it's hands-on, so bring in different whole grain and non whole grain packages with labels on them can help children identify their differences. Educating children on what the differences are and how it effects their body would help the children better realize the benefits of eating whole grains.
Courtney-
I like your idea of playing the game with actual food labels. Can't get more realistic than that!
Emily's bulletin board idea is great. I agree that creating a display will reach more people.
First I would educate the kids in a lunch room setting where I would show examples of food products that are 100% whole grain and do taste testing. I feel that getting the kids to actively learn about the difference between refined and whole grains would make the most impact. By tasting the whole grain recipes they will get the chance to have a hands on experience. The Whole Grains Council has great handouts and activities for the kids to learn about whole grains. I really like the idea of having the kids do a challenge and make it a healthy competition to make changes to the foods they are eating. This is also a way to get the school and parents involved.
To educate the children about the differences between whole grains and refined grains, I would come up with some fun analogies that explain how these foods are broken down in the body differently and how whole grains can help to keep you full and energized throughout the day. Then, a fun activity could be to ask the children to bring in the labels of some of their favorite foods, and then teach them how to read the nutrition fact panel to determine if that food contains whole grains and dietary fiber.
I also really like Tina's idea to educate the children by providing samples of foods made with whole grains. Hopefully, once they notice that these foods taste delicious, they will be more willing to eat these products.
Courtney-
Thanks for sharing the apps! Using technology and games would be a great way to teach children. Making it fun and active keeps their interest in the nutrition education being provided.
I would explain the parts of the grain itself and include fiber education from the basic parts of the grain. I would also talk about the sources of 'whole grains' and some foods that are less well known and also talk about the NSP requirements for whole grain pointing out that students may be getting more whole grain than they think. I would keep in mind the age level for the education and make the curriculum based on the age level of the target audience.
I like Kaitlin's point of distinguishing between "multi-grain" and "whole-grain".
I also like Beth's idea of a game to evaluate the level of understanding and answer questions from there or re-teach a point in more simple terms if many of the students seem confused on something.
I would begin with a brief overview of the difference between whole grains and refined grains. I would make a visual aide displaying the characteristics of each and the benefits of whole grains verses refined grains. I would ask the children to reflect on what they typically eat in a day's time. I would show them a poster of whole grain breakfast items and ask them to select one they might consider trying/ asking their parents to buy. I would repeat the same for lunch, dinner and a snack. This way the kids would have a plan for implementing the whole grains in their diet!
-Great ideas everyone!
Tina, what an advantage it would be to immerse the students in cooking methods and taste testing. Even if it was once a week or once a month.
My goal would be to educate them on the differences between certain labels such as whole grain and multi grains and to explain the benefits of choosing whole grains. I think it's a great idea when educating children to use visual aides and specific examples so that they have a better understanding. I would play a game after the education to make sure that they understood and also to see if there were any points they were confused about.
I agree with Tina that it would be beneficial to have the kids be a part of the cooking/prepping process or allow them to taste test to have them see that choosing the healthier option can taste good.
Anna J. said:
The previous ideas of games for the kids at school and take home resources for parents about shopping and the benefits of whole grains are really great. Something that might be fun is hands on cooking with whole grains. Letting the kids get involved in making and than tasting healthy whole grain recipes. Such as using popcorn and making a trail-mix or baking muffins with whole grain flour or maybe oatmeal where each kid can pick individual “add-ins” of dried fruit, bananas, nuts, etc. Also maybe setting up a grocery store in the school with empty food boxes and have the kids “go shopping” and pick out the whole grain foods. This could include label reading for the older kids.
Anna J. said:
Emily, I think it is a great idea to put a bulletin board by the cafeteria. It would be really cool to tie this into the after school presentations and games the kids play so everything would all tie together.
Anna J. said:
Haley, I like your taste testing idea. That would be fun!
I think a label-reading class might be helpful, because it can be confusing to figure out if what you are eating is actually a whole grain. There are usually key words on food packaging & things to look for in nutrition labels/ingredients to ensure it is a whole grain. It might be cool to post a diagram of a whole grain kernel with descriptions & explaining why the whole part of it is good for you.
I agree with Jessica that a visual aide would be good to help children understand the difference between whole and refined grains. I also like Tina's idea of trying different whole grains in delicious recipes. My son recently discovered he likes brown rice better than white rice when I used it in gumbo (a favorite food of his). If the parents are unfamiliar with the grains, maybe they could be included in the tasting. It would be fun to have a nutrition fair where the children helped prepare simple foods using whole grains and the parents were invited to try them. Obviously, some places may not have the necessary funding for a project like this.
I agree with Jessica that a visual aide would be good to help children understand the difference between whole and refined grains. I also like Tina's idea of trying different whole grains in delicious recipes. My son recently discovered he likes brown rice better than white rice when I used it in gumbo (a favorite food of his). If the parents are unfamiliar with the grains, maybe they could be included in the tasting. It would be fun to have a nutrition fair where the children helped prepare simple foods using whole grains and the parents were invited to try them. Obviously, some places may not have the necessary funding for a project like this.
I would first go over the basics of what whole grain means. I would show the children real-life examples of whole grain foods. I would also show them what items in the cafeteria contained whole grains. Some of the food served at school may contain whole grains and the children do not even realize it.
I really like Emily's idea of putting up a bulletin board near the cafeteria for everyone to see.I think visuals are great tool for teaching children.
I think labeling foods in the cafeteria line is one major step. Additionally, maybe for the younger children, lessons could focus on sensory characteristics like color? For instance, teaching them about brown grains vs white grains? If they learn about the colors in class, and then see how the “whole grain” labels tend to match up with the darker colors in lunch line, that might help them put things together. I really think youth need to start learning that “whole grain” means more than whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta. This would be more for teens, but I would like to see them have an understanding of whole grains like quinoa, farro, barley, millet, brown rice, etc., as well as their nutritional superiority to refined grains.
To teach children about whole grains, I would first explain the parts of a whole grain. I would show a diagram of a whole grain kernel and explain how it contains the bran, the endosperm, and the germ. I would explain that the bran portion has fiber, the germ portion has antioxidants, vitamin E, and B vitamins, and the endosperm contains mostly carbohydrates. I would explain that during processing to create refined grains, the bran and germ are removed to leave the endosperm, which eliminates many of the grain’s nutrients. I would therefore iterate that whole grains are more nutritious than refined grains.
Since breakfast was also a part of this intervention, I think teaching children about consuming more whole grains for breakfast is especially important. Since many children frequently eat breakfast cereal, I would do an activity with whole grains found in different cereals. I would explain that even though a cereal may say, “Made with whole grains” on the front of the box, the cereal may only contain a small amount of whole grains. I would teach the children to read the ingredients list of different cereals to see if a whole grain is the first ingredient. For example a type of Froot Loops has “sugar” listed as the first ingredient, and then “corn flour blend” listed as the second ingredient. I would also tell them how a natural cereal like oatmeal contains more whole grains than processed breakfast cereals. If funds allowed, I would do an oatmeal taste-test by providing the children with samples of oatmeal and have them choose their own healthy toppings like fresh fruit to flavor it. This would show the children that whole grains can taste delicious.
Everyone has great ideas! Great job!
It's pretty well established that children and adults alike do not consume adequate amounts of whole grains in their diet, so there is much work to be done.
To teach children more about whole grain foods and the benefits I would begin by explaining the very basic differences and explain that a refined grain product is stripped of all of it's benefits including fiber, vitamins and minerals. I would then move on to explaining which types of foods are whole grains and then asking the children if they consume any of these foods regularly, I would think that many children would just simply be unaware of which foods are whole grains and which are not...with a fruit or a vegetable, it's pretty easy for a child to identify whether or not the food at hand is a fruit or vegetable...but it may not be as crystal clear for whole grains. And if children do know about whole grains, as Brady mentioned, their knowledge probably doesn't extend much past whole wheat bread and pasta. Bringing up other whole grain products such as oats (which Caroline had a great point of really focusing on oats, as there are so many great ways to eat oatmeal...), quinoa and whole grain brown rice would be a great way to expand the child's knowledge of the variety that whole grain consumption entails.
I probably wouldn't get very much into label reading, especially for children in elementary or middle school, as I doubt that most have any interest in scanning a label for whole grain ingredients. In my mind, it has to be as simple as possible so that they can make the decision on the fly without reading a label on a cereal with 70 ingredients trying to identify if it contains whole grains. This is where the parents come in, as it would be great to educate the parents on label reading techniques so that they have the ability to determine whether or not a particular food product is something they want to have in the house for the kids to eat. Children don't buy groceries, and probably aren't even at the store most of the time with their parents when they buy groceries, so it's up to the parents to understand which foods are better than others. If the children see more whole grain foods in their house (some of which they may not even make the connection of "hey...that's a whole grain!), they may just begin to consume those foods just because they are available and also may consume them at other times such as at school breakfasts (say the parents buy oatmeal, the child eats it during the weekends, sees it offered at a school breakfast on Monday and says "hey, I like that!" and gets that instead of lucky charms)
Maybe label reading would be more appropriate for high school aged students who may be more likely to purchase their own foods at the time, or are going to be making their own food choices in a year or two when they move out and go to college.
I like the idea of labeling whole grains in the lunch line. It would need to be a simple kind of label - preferable a picture so the youngest could easily understand it. Brady also mentions teaching kids about white vs. brown grains. That might be confusing. Oatmeal is not really brown, and brown rice does not look much darker after it has been cooked.
Emily makes a very good point about using a variety of techniques to reach the maximum number of students.
I really liked Tina's idea to use a recipe to teach about whole grains- that would help keep the kids interested!
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