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Teach the Concept of Nutrient Density By Chef Brooks Cameron, Tyson Foods Executive Chef Add Nutrition Education To Your Curriculum
STUDENTS LOVE GLOBAL FLAVORS
As with so many habits established in childhood, the foods kids eat when they’re young, often become the foundation for their lifelong diet. But what if the foods kids choose are not the best ones? How do you convince them to make better choices? The best way to alter a bad habit
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is to replace it with a better one. And when it comes to better nutrition, we can do that by incorporating nutrition education into the standard curriculum. After all, the field of nutrition is filled with math, science, and language skill components. When you count, weigh, and measure foods, you’re doing math. If you’re cooking, you’re observing a range of chemical reactions. That’s science in action. And if you’re interpreting recipes, creating new menus, and reading about different foods, you’re learning new vocabulary. There’s your English. At the Core of Nutrition Education Understanding the concept of nutrient density is an essential part of nutrition educa- tion. A food’s nutrient density is determined by comparing the extent of nutrients in a food, to the food’s caloric content. For instance, which is more nutrient dense: an orange or a glass of orange juice? A four-ounce glass of orange juice has about 50 calories. A medium-size orange has about 45 calories. However, the whole orange has the added benefit of providing needed fiber, which is alarmingly low in the diets of many children and adults. This is where portion size and math come in. Most people would be satisfied with eating a single, medium-size orange. But most people would probably drink eight ounces of orange juice, rather than just four, thereby consuming 100 calories. In this one-to-one comparison, then, the fresh orange is more nutrient dense, because it offers more nutrients, while delivering fewer calories. Nutrient dense foods contain a wealth of vitamins and minerals. These include vege- tables, fruits, peas, beans, and nuts. Whole grains, lean meats like poultry, eggs, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products, including milk and yogurt, are also nutrient dense. You can soon become quite expert at identifying which foods or beverages are nutrient dense, and which are not. As a test, compare soda to milk. An eight-ounce soda has 21 to 24 grams of sugar, and no protein or fat. The 84 to 96 calories come from simple carbohydrates: that is, sucrose, or table sugar. And today, eight ounces
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