Healthy Behavior Outcomes (HBO):
HBO 6. Limit foods and beverages high in
added sugars, solid fat, and sodium.
HBO 8. Eat healthy snacks.
HBO 9. Eat healthy foods when dining out
HBO 12. Follow an eating plan for healthy
growth and development.
HBO 13. Support others to eat healthy
National Health Education Standards (NHES):
HE1.8.13 Summarizing the benefits of of limiting the consumption of solid fat, added sugar, and sodium
HE1.8.17 Explain how to select healthy foods when dining out
HE1.8.22 Describe the benefits of eating in moderation
HE.4.8.3 Demonstrate effective negotiation skills to avoid or reduce unhealthy eating
Title: Your Food Is Fooling You: How Your Brain is Hijacked by Sugar, Fat, and Salt
Author: David A. Kessler, MD
Publication date: 2013
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
ISBN: 978-1-59643-831-6
Where you can buy it:
Brief description of the book:
This book is written to the audience of pre-teens and teens on the topic of America’s culture of overeating, how the food industry exploits consumers by deliberately producing foods high in combinations of fat, salt and sugar which are food combinations proven to be highly addictive as well as terrible for your health. The book also goes into how to identify if you are overeating, and how to stop it. Then the author talks about changing eating habits to cut out addictive foods and transition into healthier, less addictive eating patterns.
I thought this was the best selection around for middle school aged students because they are starting to look at large scale problems in the world and think critically. This books asks students to think critically about the food that they consume and how that affects their health and well being. It also asks them to think about the ethics behind the food industry and if they want to support such industries with their dollars. Since middle school aged students are well known for wanting to gain more independence, allowing them to have more knowledge over their own nutrition and allowing them a chance to take control over their own bodies is a healthy way for students to assert their independence. Also, I have worked with this age group a lot, and I have seen HORRIBLE eating habits. Overeating is definitely a problem, however, I also see students not eating at school, or at least not meals and instead opting for snacks of Monster Energy Drinks, and Flaming Hot Takis…not good!
I also liked this selection because it talked about the problem of nutrition and overeating on an individual level. It gives students an understanding of when they are overeating, and the science behind what they are eating and how it impacts their brain functioning. This book gives students the tools to be reflective about their own nutrition and eatings habits, and make positive changes.
Integration into core curriculum:
There are a lot of ways!
Science: Have students explore the chemical reactions that their favorite snack foods have on them.
Math: Have students bring in containers of their favorite processed foods and have them do the math on the fat, salt and sugar amount and find out what percentage of their daily allotment their snack is.
Writing: Have students record how they feel after eating certain foods in their journals, or how hard it was or wasn’t to resist desired processed foods. Or, have students analyzed the packaging of their favorite processed foods to see how the marketing is making the food more appealing to them as an audience.
excerpt from the book: (p. 39-40) “Tests also show that lab animals prefer mixtures of sugar and fat. Sara Ward, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tested mice to see if they would work to get a drink called Ensure. Ensure is marketed as being a “healthy” protein drink, but it is high in sugar and fat. To get a drink of Ensure, the mice had to poke their noses through a hole. Just like the rats working for sugar, the mice had to work harder for each new drink. The mice were ready to work very hard for Ensure. On average, they didn’t stop until they had gotten fourteen rewards. Remember, each reward required more nose pokes than the one before. To get the fourteenth reward took seventy-seven nose pokes. Ward told me that the power of sugar and fat was only slightly less than cocaine, a highly addictive drug. Animals will work almost as hard to get either one. When a food is almost as powerful as cocaine, we know it is highly reinforcing.”