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Day 1: Green Scene Students learn the benefits of green vegetables and the number of recommended servings

Day 2: Vital Vitamins Students learn about different types of vitamins and how they function in the body

Day 3: Nutritious Choices Students examine their eating habits and learn about a balanced diet

Day 4: International Food Day Students learn the differences in people's diets from around the world

Day 5: Super-size Me (See the lesson below) Students learn about America's growing obesity and its relationship to portion size

Day 6: Got Greens? Students learn ways foods are marketed towards youth in order to start their own green campaign

Day 7: Getting the Skinny on Obesity Students learn about the New Food Pyramid and how to evaluate their Body Mass Index

Day 8: Action Plan Students evaluate their own activity levels and plan ways to add more movement into their lives

Day 9: Fitting in Fitness Students evaluate how they spend their time and how to include physical activity into their day

Day 10: Green Day Students plant a garden and/or fix up a community space for physical activity

More student resources for this cause are at:
www.dosomething.org/causes/healthy_eating

1. Warm-up: Give students a blank piece of paper and have them draw a typical restaurant meal to scale. If they choose steak, how big a piece would they get? How many French fries? How big is the bun for a hamburger?
2. Explain to students that over 60% of Americans are overweight. Ask students why they think this might be the case.
3. Read about portion size and childhood obesity http://www.annecollins.com/weight-control/food-portion-sizes.htm.
4. Bring is some common food items (Pasta, cereal, tomato sauce) and have students determine how much they usually eat for a meal. Then look at the label for the amount of an individual serving. How does this compare? If students took more than what is considered one portion, have them calculate the calories of their serving size.
5. Discuss with students how to relate portions to everyday items so they can estimate servings. For example:
   Woman's fist or baseball -serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist,
   Rounded handful - about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta - this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels,
   Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) - for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop,
   Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts,
   Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream,
   Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato,
   Compact disc - about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle,
   Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter,
   Six dice - a serving of cheese,
   Check book - a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)" ( from http://www.mealsmatter.org/EatingForHealth/Topics/article.aspx?articleID=52)
6. Reflect: Have students revise their original drawing, considering portion size.

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