Grade 12 - Healthy Living
C2.1: demonstrate the ability to make healthy eating decisions that take into account their personal requirements and resources in a variety of situations that they may encounter now and in the future
C3.1: assess the food requirements and available food choices of people in a variety of life situations, and describe the options available to them for maintaining a healthy diet
Key Concepts for Student Learning:
- Personal eating decisions are individual and can shift depending on situation, environment, and resources available (e.g., nutritional needs, personal likes, ethical and environmental values, budget, time available to shop and cook, access to different kinds of foods).
- Nutrition needs change across the lifecycle. For example, young babies have high iron needs when they start eating solid foods, and teens need calcium and vitamin D to support bone growth. There may also be challenges at different life stages in getting the nutrients you need (i.e., older adults having difficulty chewing protein rich foods).
- The environment we are in influences the food choices available to us. For example, foods available in remote northern communities, or the foods we can access while at work.
NOTE: Educators should be aware that food guide messages may not be appropriate for all students including those who are neurodivergent and/or have health, sensory or other exceptional needs that impact their relationship with food and eating. SMHO Resource on Mental Health Promotion at Schools: Classroom Considerations – Supporting Mental Wellness Amongst Students with Special Education Needs offers tips that can be applied to support learning about food and eating at school.
Classroom Activities and Ideas
- Discussion: Brainstorm strategies for cooking on your own once leaving home. What food skills do you have? How can you learn to cook?
- Discuss social determinants of health and their impact on health (e.g., food access, food insecurity).
- Discuss how eating behaviours can shift throughout different life stages and different situations depending on resources, access etc.
- Activity: Have students research a life stage and the nutrients that are important at that stage. Research what foods contain those nutrients. Consider what barriers might exist in getting an adequate amount of those nutrients.
- Discussion: How might living in a northern community impact your access to food? How has colonization impacted access to traditional foods for Indigenous people living in northern or remote communities?
- Indigenous Food Insecurity: Indigenous Food Insecurity - PROOF
- Nutrition North Nutrition North Canada
- Paying for nutrition: A report on food costing in the North | National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health
- Discussion: What is food apartheid? How does racism impact access to food? How are food and social justice linked?