A lesson in eating smart

Andrew Edwards

Fifth-graders at Hawes Elementary School are getting an early start

on learning the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Their teacher, Sue Vernand, taught a lesson geared to instill the

value of a balanced diet. “Most of the people in America are getting

overweight,” said 10-year-old Bobby Ellis.

The class began by going over different kinds of fat. They learned

to stay away from foods with high levels of saturated fat -- red

meat, eggs and chocolate.

Foods containing polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, like

fish and nuts, are better to eat, Vernand said.

Learning about the fat contents of different types of food made

the class doubtful that popular diets that promise weight loss as a

result of eating large amounts of meat are healthy.

“It might give you a stroke,” 10-year-old Sean Allen said.

To help her students think about eating healthy, Vernand

instructed them to search through a stack of magazines and cut out

pictures of healthy dishes. The students were told to glue the

pictures onto an outline of a plate on a construction paper placemat

to make a collage of an ideal dinner.

“[Create] the best meal that you could possibly serve that would

be a balanced diet,” Vernand said.

After finding a picture of chicken soup, 11-year old Cameron

McArthur decided the dish would make a good addition to his collage.

“I think that’s pretty healthy,” Cameron said.

Another student was satisfied she had made healthy choices after

she glued pictures of mashed potatoes, fish, shrimp and chicken to

her placemat.

“Those things are not fat,” 10-year-old Christina Le said.

As the kids thumbed through old magazines and pasted their cutouts

to their collages, the class became more and more lively.

Ten-year-old David Luther flexed his right arm, “I don’t need milk,

look at these guns,” he joked.

Children can find fun in just about any subject. Many in the class

took the lesson seriously but many have begun to be more thoughtful

about nutrition.

“If I had a snack, instead of chocolate, I go ahead and eat nuts

or something,” 10-year-old Steven Marckstadt said.