Transcript Teaching Nutrition & Cooking Skills to Youth

Teaching
Nutrition &
Cooking Skills
to Youth
Jennifer Bowen
Extension Agent/4-H
Prince Edward County
[email protected]
Patsy Pelland
Extension Agent/FCS
Prince Edward County
[email protected]
Ruth Wallace
Extension Agent/4-H
Buckingham County
[email protected]
WHY ARE THESE SKILLS IMPORTANT?
 Research shows that …
…
Eating habits are adopted early in life and
carry through to adulthood
…
Children are more likely to try new foods if
involved in preparing them
…
Cooking skills and cooking literacy are
declining with each generation
…
Only 40% of youth ages 10 – 17 can cook a
spaghetti dinner
… The lack of cooking skills may be contributing
to the nation’s growing obesity rate
Research from the University of North Texas, the Agricultural Research Service
Children’s Nutrition Research Center, and SDA
WORKING WITH AGES 5-8 (K-3)
 Nuts about Nutrition
 3rd Grade Nutrition Program
 Delightful Dinners
 Food Fundamentals
NUTS ABOUT NUTRITION
 3 week series
 Week 1
•
Learn about the pyramid & serving sizes
•
Identify which foods go in which group
•
Focus on a different food group each day
 Week 2
•
Identify which foods go in which group
•
How to read food labels
 Week 3
•
Food Safety
•
Grocery Store Field Trip
NUTS ABOUT NUTRITION
 Simple Food Preparation each day including …
…
English Muffin Pizzas
…
Making Pretzels
…
Ants on a Log
… Frozen Yogurt Sundays
…
GORP
…
Banana Splits
…
Homemade Stromboli
…
Sunshine Shakes
3RD GRADE NUTRITION PROGRAM
 Four easy lessons
•
45 minutes each
•
hands-on activities
 Lesson 1 – My Pyramid
 Lesson 2 – Physical Activity
 Lesson 3 – Fruits and Vegetables
 Lesson 4 – Sugar Content of Drinks
 Monthly Activity Calendar
DELIGHTFUL DINNERS
 A Parent/Child cooking class
…
Instruction

My Pyramid

Table Setting

Manners

Hand Washing
DELIGHTFUL DINNERS
…
Cooking

Kid-friendly recipes (chicken fingers, pizza,
pasta salad, etc.)

Basic skills
…
Measuring liquid and dry ingredients
…
Combining ingredients
…
Basic food safety
…
Following directions
…
Parents join children after work
… Family Meal Time

Children set table and serve family members
FOOD FUNDAMENTALS
IN SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
Session 1:
Introduction to the Food Guide Pyramid
•Children learn basics of MyPyramid and practice identifying in
which section foods belong
Session 2:
Fruits and Vegetables Day
• Children make a class chart of fruits and vegetables. Throughout the
week the children are encouraged to eat fruits and veggies. The
children play a game identifying fruits and vegetables from taste.
Session 3: How Our Diet Fits Into the Pyramid
• Children will draw pictures of the foods they ate for
breakfast, lunch or dinner. They place these foods
where they belong on a large paper pyramid.
Session 4: Review of the Pyramid
• Food Pyramid Hunt
WORKING WITH AGES 9-13
 After-School Programs
…
Fun With Foods
…
Beef It Up
…
Project NIFTY
… 4-H After-School (Middle School Unit)
 Summer Programs
…
Simply Scrumptious
…
Fit & Fun in the Sun
FUN WITH FOODS
 Focus on learning basic cooking
skills
•
Measuring dry and liquid
ingredients
•
Measuring shortening, peanut
butter
•
Sautéing, browning, caramelizing
•
Folding, mixing, combining
•
Chopping, dicing
•
Using a microwave, blender, food
thermometer
•
Kneading
FUN WITH FOODS
 Focus on Learning Basic Life Skills
•
Learning to read and follow directions
•
Working together
•
Sharing
•
Cleaning up after oneself
•
Time and resource management
FUN WITH FOODS
 Focus on Food Safety
•
Handling raw meat
•
Cooking with raw eggs
•
Appropriate cooking temperatures
for meats (cooking meat until
done)
•
Safety around knives, stovetop,
grills, etc.
FUN WITH FOODS
 Focus on Nutrition
•
Identifying the food group
each major ingredient
comes from
•
Identifying nutritional
value of each of these
major ingredients
•
Planning what other dishes
could be served to
complete the meal
BEEF IT UP
 Similar to Fun With Foods,
but emphasizing beef
dishes
 Focus on …
…
Cuts of meat
… Various cooking methods
…
Which cooking methods
best suit which cuts
…
Food safety
… Nutrition
…
Cooking skills and life skills
4-H AFTER-SCHOOL
 Part of Structured After-School Program at
Middle School
 Lesson 1 - Food Safety & Cooking
 Lesson 2 – Vitamins, Minerals, and
Phytonutrients; Made Kabobs
 Lesson 3 - Eggs and Protein; Made Omelets
 Lesson 4 – Calcium; Made Sunshine Shakes
and Peanut Butter Crackers dipped in
Chocolate
PROJECT NIFTY
(Nutrition, self Image, & Fitness tools for Youth)
 How do nutrition, self image, and fitness all
contribute to being healthy?
 Day 1 – My Pyramid; Make Yogurt Sundaes
 Day 2 – Label Reading; Make Cinnamon
Snack Mix
 Day 3 – Smart Image; Make Pizza Crackers
 Day 4 – Smart Activities; Make Deviled Eggs
FIT & FUN IN THE SUN
 Focus on Benefits of Physical Activity,
Nutrition, and Cooking
 Lesson 1 – What is Physical Activity? Benefits
of Physical Activity
 Lesson 2 – My Pyramid
 Lesson 3 – Cooking Skills
 Lesson 4 – Bag Lunches, Food Safety on the
Go, Well Balanced Diet
 Lesson 5 – Fast Food, Fat & Sugar Contents of
Foods, Serving Sizes
FIT & FUN IN THE SUN
 Games & Crafts
 Made Pizza, Blackberry or Peach Cobbler,
tacos (in teams of 4-6 youth with an older
teen or adult helper)
SIMPLY SCRUMPTIOUS
 Targets academics in addition to cooking and
nutrition
 Nutrition Skills
•
Review of My Pyramid
•
Reading labels
•
Menu preparation
 Food Preparation Skills
•
Reading a recipe and following directions
•
Doubling/halving a recipe
•
Learning proper cooking techniques
•
Learning safe food handling practices
WHAT’S NEXT FOR US?
 Cooking with Cloverbuds
 Advanced skills workshops
 Effective evaluations of knowledge and life
skills gains
TEACHING NUTRITION AND
COOKING SKILLS TO YOUTH
 Lessons can be stand alone or as part of a
unit
 The hands-on approach is best
 When teaching cooking skills, the MOST
IMPORTANT lesson is on how to read a recipe
and follow it!
 Kids will learn better when taught the skills
and then “turned loose” to use those skills in
the recipe (with supervision of course)
VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
CURRICULUM RESOURCES
 Family Nutrition Program (FNP) lessons*
*
For low-income youth only; A FNP educator
may be able to come to your location to teach
youth or may train you to use the curriculum
 Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids
 Nourishing Children with Books
 Childcare Provider Kits on Grains and Physical
Activity
 Suppers Made Simple
 Stepping Up to the Plate
Computer based curriculum for ages 9-13
TEACHING NUTRITION AND
COOKING SKILLS TO YOUTH
 Group Discussion
1.
Please share your experiences with afterschool programs in this area.
2.
What challenges/triumphs have you
encountered teaching nutrition and/or cooking
skills?
3.
Do you have additional ideas/comments to
share?
THANK YOU!