PSHE: 3a Science: Sc2: 2a, 2b

You will need: Activity worksheet 2: Balance of Good Health plate FSA Balance of Good Health explanatory leaflet (provided/tel: 0845 6060667) Activity worksheet 3: Which food group?

Give the children a copy of the Balance of Good Health plate (activity worksheet 2). Refer to the FSA ‘Balance of Good Health’ explanatory leaflet for more details.

Ask the children the following questions;

• Does a person have to eat exactly these proportions every day? No, some people find it easier
  to achieve the balance over a longer period. The balance of proportions can be achieved over the
  course of a week or two.
  
• If a person eats only fruit and vegetables or only foods from the bread and cereals group, will
  they have a healthy diet? No, a healthy diet requires a balance of foods taken from each of
  the groups shown on the diagram. Note however that products such as confectionary, chocolate, crisps and sugar-laden soft drinks (part of the fatty and sugary foods group) are not an essential
  part of a healthy diet.
  
• What health effects might result from eating too many fatty and sugary foods and not enough
  fruit and vegetables? Foods from the fatty and sugary food group should either be eaten sparingly,
  e.g. fat spreads, oils and dressings, or eaten as occassional treats, e.g. confectionary, cakes and
  biscuits. Excess consumption of fatty and sugary foods is associated with heart disease, obesity and dental diseases. Fruit and vegetables contain minerals and vitamins which help us feel and look good. They also contain antioxidants which help to protect the body from some cancers and heart disease.
  
• Which food groups do these foods fit into; eggs (meat, fish and alternatives), cheese (milk
  and dairy), orange squash (fatty and sugary foods), sausages (meat, fish and
  alternatives and fatty and sugary foods), oranges (fruit and vegetables), biscuits (fatty and sugary
  foods), cornflakes (bread, other cereals and potatoes), baked beans (the three categories of bread,
  other cereals and potatoes, fruit and vegetables and meat, fish and alternatives)?

Using activity worksheet 3 (Which food group?), ask the children to arrange food in the correct groups. Note that some of the foods go into more than one food group.