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HomeWhat are GO-Foods? - Preschool Learning Unit
What are GO-Foods? - Preschool Learning Unit
Know Your GO-Foods Unit
The nutrition component of the curriculum consists of 2 units. "Know Your GO-Foods" should be used toward the beginning of the school year and "On The GO-Food Track" should be used near the end of the year. In addition, there's a nutrition-related add-on lesson in many of the other units in the curriculum.
Goals and Objectives
Children will recognize heart-healthy, (low fat / high fiber) foods, as GO FOODS.
Children will recognize high fat / low fiber foods as SLOW FOODS.
Children will increase consumption of heart-healthy GO FOODS.
Children will decrease consumption of SLOW FOODS.
Some nutrition lessons will focus on identifying high fat dairy products, particularly in snacks and breakfast, and on encouraging children to request lower fat foods at home.
Points to emphasize:
Foods that have a lot of fat in them are not healthy for the body.
Foods with a lot of fat in them make it harder for the heart to work.
Foods with a lot of fat in them do not help children to run, jump, play, and learn.
Breads, cereals, pasta, beans, fruits, and vegetables give children the energy that they need to run, jump, play, and learn.
Whole milk, whole milk cheese, and full fat ice cream all have a lot of fat in them. Children should not eat these foods often.
There are many kinds of dairy products that have less fat. These include low fat (1%) and skim milk, low fat cottage cheese, low fat ice cream, and low fat yogurt and frozen yogurt. Children should choose these foods everyday.
Children should choose foods with less fat.
Children should eat lots of bread, pasta, cereal, vegetables, beans, and fruit to be healthy.
It is okay for children to ask their parents for foods with less fat.
It is not healthy for children to eat lots of foods with added sugar.
Although fruit and fruit juice taste sweet, they do not have a lot of added sugar.
Children need to eat breakfast everyday in order to have the energy they need to run, jump, play, and learn.
Focus on Fat
The nutrition units focus on heart-healthy foods that reduce the long term risks of heart disease. These foods are low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in complex carbohydrates, and usually low in added sugar. Most snack foods that are high in sugar are also high in fat, such as candy, cakes, and cookies. Some very low fat foods with sugar, however, may actually be better choices than many others, particularly foods that children often have for breakfast.
Although common beliefs about the relationships between salt and high blood pressure suggest that one should reduce the intake of added salt, this is not a focus of the lessons for several reasons. First, only a small portion of the adult population is actually "salt-senstive" and research does not clearly support the connection between salt intake and heart disease risk. Second, children at this age often confuse salt and sugar. Finally, some salty snacks such as pretzels or popcorn are actually excellent food choices because they are lower in fat than most sugary snacks.
Regarding fat, research indicates that most of the fat young children eat comes from high fat dairy products such as milk and cheese. Thus, the lessons emphasize using lower fat products such as low-fat (1%) and fat free (skim) milk, yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, etc... In addition, it is suggested that children eat hard cheese, sauces, mayonnaise, dressings, etc... in limited amounts. As low fat or fat free varieties of hard cheese may not be readily available, or expensive, and are not readily recognizable by young children, our message is simply to eat less cheese. Products like eggs, which are often the focus of adult efforts to reduce heart disease risk, can also be eaten in limited amounts. Eggs are high in cholesterol (in the yolk), but can be an important source of protein and nutrients for young children. We would not therefore suggest eliminating eggs. Instead the breakfast lessons focus on bread, cereal, fruit, and low fat milk as the best selections.
Focus on Snacks, Breakfast, and Milk Products
Children do not have discretion over everything they eat. They may be able to influence some family purchases, such as teh choice of low fat milk, or the selection of snack or breakfast items. Thus, the lessons focus on areas in which young children do have discretion, that is, snack foods, breakfast choices, and milk. They're encouraged to make healthy choices in those areas where they do have a choice. They're also encouraged to politely advocate at home for the purchase of lower fat products such as 1% or skim milk.
GO! Foods and SLOW Foods
The nutrition unit uses the concepts of "GO" and "SLOW" foods. GO foods are low in fat and sugar and high in complex carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients. They are presented to the children as foods that give the body lots of energy and fuel to help it GO, grow, and work well. Children are encouraged to eat lots of these foods. GO foods are depicted with a green circle to signify the concept of "GO".
SLOW foods should be eaten by children in moderation. For children who do not have special medical or nutritional needs, there are no foods that are forbidden. Rather, foods that are high in fat and added sugar should be eaten in moderation and should not replace foods that proovide the nutrients that children need. Thus, SLOW foods are presented as those which do not help the body GO and grow, but instead make the body work slowly and are not as healthy. SLOW foods are presented with a yellow triangle, to signify the concept of going slowly, using caution and moderation.
Lesson Preparation
For some activities, use a collection of empty food containers for demonstration and play. At the beginning of the school year, send home a note from the nutrition curriculum with a request to send school empty cereal and other food boxes. For most activities, only healthy GO food containers will be used. For the milk activities, you will need cartons of milk in all varieties (whole, low fat, skim). You may want to bring these yourselves, being careful to wash them in warm soapy water first.
In addition to boxes, collect magazine or newspaper pictures of healthy GO foods. Ask parents to make a collection of these, as well. They can look for them with their children and cut them out together.
Finally, many lessons suggest a food demonstration and/or tasting. In most cases the foods used are fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, raisins, etc... Also included are popcorn and cereal. Only a few lessons require demonstration with unhealthy or greasy foods. Check the lessons ahead of time to determine what food supplies you will need. In general, you can make substitutions of the foods identified. Enlist a few parents in helping with food preparation or sending in certain foods on specific days.
This is a chapter in the Healthy Start, Health Education Program for Preschoolers Sample Activities From the Chapter:
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