Topic 3 Food and Nutrition

Why do teenagers need to know about diet and nutrition?

Puberty is a critical period for the physical development of teenagers. A balanced diet can give them sufficient nutrients to maintain vitality and normal physical development. However, teenagers may not know the appropriate amount of food, and they may ignore the importance of breakfast or eat uncontrollably. These may cause teenagers to be deficient in specific nutrients, and long-term nutritional deficiencies can affect growth and development. Therefore, teachers should let teenagers understand the nutrients in food and understand good eating habits are primary conditions for maintaining health.

Main concepts

1. Let teenagers understand the various nutrients in food, including carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water, and that a proper diet is necessary to maintain life, growth and development.
2. Let teenagers understand that good eating habits are the basics for maintaining health. They should follow the food pyramid as the basic principle of healthy eating and develop good eating habits at an early stage. These habits include eating breakfast every day and preventing picky eating, etc. In addition, teenagers need to know how to select, handle and preserve food to avoid food-borne diseases and food poisoning.
3. By understanding different cooking methods and how to read food labels, teenagers can identify the nutritional values of food, which will help them make healthy food choices or choose more nutritious foods in different situations, which is the key to health.
4. Let teenagers understand that diet and health are closely related. These concepts include that long-term unhealthy eating habits (such as too much sugar, salt and fat, insufficient fruits, vegetables and dietary fibre consumption, etc.) can cause physical health problems; calorie control and regular exercise are the best ways for people to maintain an ideal weight; a healthy diet also helps build a healthy and positive self-image, and teenagers do not need to go on a diet unthinkingly because they think they may have a weight problem or embrace the concept of "slimness is beauty".
5. Teachers may arrange experiential activities for students (such as planting crops, visiting farmhouses, healthy food cooking competitions, etc.) and give examples close to students' lives (such as analysing the menus from restaurants in the community, observing the types of foods provided in the school snack bar, and the types of beverages offered by vending machines, etc.). It helps students understand the nutritional value of food products and master how to make healthy food choices in different situations. Another practical tip is that when we occasionally overeat, we don't have to feel guilty; what we can do is control what we eat in the following few days to reshape our healthy eating habits. There is no need to focus on failed experiences; everyone can achieve a balanced diet if they are in the right direction.

Keywords

#A balanced diet  #Consumption  #Nutrients  #Breakfast

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