Level: Grades 4 to 6
Overview
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This lesson familiarizes children with the nutritional value of foods advertised on television and in magazines. The lesson begins with a class discussion about different types of foods and where snack food fits into a healthy diet. Students then compare TV's version of a great meal to the kinds of foods that their mothers would recommend, and categorize the foods they enjoy according to whether or not they would be considered part of a healthy diet. In groups, students survey television and magazine food ads to determine what types of foods are promoted most often.
Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate:
- an awareness of the disproportionate amount of snack food advertisements in magazines and on TV
- continuing awareness of the types of foods needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle
- a continuing awareness of the principles of balance and moderation in fitting snack foods into a healthy diet
Preparation and Materials
Photocopy the following student handouts:
Procedure
Guided Discussion
Begin by asking your students:
- What is meant by a "healthy" diet? (A balanced diet made up of a variety of foods from the categories in Canada's Food Guide. Moderation in the amounts of foods eaten.)
- What are the four food groups that make up the rainbow in Canada's Food Guide? (Grain Products, Vegetables and Fruit, Milk Products, Meat and Alternatives.)
- Where do snack foods fit into our diets? (If you have a balanced diet, a few snacks are all right.)
- Why is too much snack food not good for us? (They do not provide any real nourishment; they make us less hungry for healthier foods; too much salt, sugar and fat from snack foods can lead to health problems.)
Next, have students think about TV commercials and print advertisements for food. On the board, list the types of foods that they have seen advertised. Most likely, when you have finished, there will be more snack food items on the board than regular foods. Ask your students:
- What is the problem with so much snack food advertising? (Encourages poor eating habits; can make you think that some snack foods are more nutritious than they really are, for example, "juicers" passing as fruit juice, cereals that are "part of" a nutritious breakfast. And by the way, while you're sitting there watching all those food commercials, you're not doing your body any good either!)
Activities
Activity One
- Imagine your television came to life at breakfast time and offered some advice on what you should eat. What would your TV say? What would your mother want you to eat?
- Using pictures from magazines and advertising flyers, make a collage of foods TV would suggest eating for breakfast. Make a second collage of foods your mother would recommend. How many foods are in both collages? What types of foods are they?
This activity is from the Live TV Activity Guide
Activity Two
Ask students what their favorite foods are and list them on the board. Distribute 10 Great & 10 Not-So-Great Kids' Foods and give them an opportunity to catagorize the foods on these sheets. Using your Teacher's Master Sheet, correct their lists and discuss why some foods are classified as "great" and others are classified as "not-so-great." (For example, make sure that students understand the difference between whole and 1% milk; how regular hamburgers from food chains differ from extra-lean hamburger; how whole-grain, low-sugar cereals differ from their less nutritious counterparts.) Referring to the list on the board, have students determine which categories their favorite foods fall under.
Activity Three
Divide your class into two groups and distribute copies of My Magazine Food Ad Log to students in one group, and My TV Food Ad Log to students in the other.
Group 1: TV Food Ads
Over the next week, students in this group will use the My TV Food Ad Log to track the food advertisements that appear during two hours of TV viewing. (If the child watches ½ an hour of TV per day, it can be done over a four-day period; if the child is only allowed TV on weekends, it might be done in one hour on Saturday and one hour on Sunday. Teachers should encourage students to include different television stations, time periods and programming in their survey.)
Group 2: Magazine Food Ads
Each student in this group will select four different magazines and survey which foods are advertised in them. The magazines should differ from one another, i.e., one might be a woman's magazine, one a magazine for kids, and another a general magazine like People (however, two students might survey different issues of the same magazine.) In their Magazine Food Ad Log, students will track which magazine the ads appeared in, and answer the questions included in the instructions.
When both groups have completed their surveys, give them sufficient time to compare their findings with other group members and to answer the questions on their sheets.
As a class, discuss the findings of both groups.
Evaluation
- Television and Magazine Food Ad Logs.
