Page 203 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

measuring cups. Specifically, if they are trying to demonstrate to children how much sugar is in a can of soda,
they may provide the children with a measuring cup and a bag of sugar. Allow them to measure the amount of
sugar as indicated on the nutrition label. Older children can compare how much sugar is in two different types
of cereal, one high-sugar type and one low-sugar and high-fiber option. They can read the nutrition label,
measure the amount of sugar, and record and chart the amount of sugar in each cereal. Children can discuss
what they discovered in small groups such as which cereal is the better nutritional choice. For homework,
children can bring food labels from home or search online for product information under supervision.

Nutrition counselors should also use visual aids and materials to appeal to conceptual learners. Experiments
with new foods and methods of preparing them are appropriate activities for children. For example, children
can play nutrition-focused games or participate in scavenger hunts where they must locate specific foods.
When discussing the basic food groups, they may use the ChooseMyPlate concept with portion size models to
teach the importance of understanding serving size on different dishes and plates.2 Nutrition professionals
may also engage students in oral activities such as describing their favorite foods or written activities such as
keeping a food diary or meal journal.

Educators could also use technology and social media under supervision to provide students with self-
directed activities. For example, they can connect students from another culture and country using video
media or use web-based sites to search for nutrition programming.

Food served at school lunch programs contributes to total nutrition.

The nutrition counselor should try to choose words that children understand. Consider presenting
complicated terms, such as “glucose,” in conjunction with visual models (i.e., food models ranked by glucose
content) and the use of simpler terms such as “sugar.” Define difficult-to-understand words and pair with
recognition connections such as flash cards. Choose words that have a positive connotation, rather than a

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