Download meal occasions notesheet.

Healthy Eating Week Assembly
Meal occasions!
Aim:
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To see how many children have breakfast.
To discuss breakfast and why it is important.
To explain how to make breakfast healthier.
To talk about how to love their lunch and how to make it healthier.
To introduce composite food groups.
To explain how to make dinner time healthier.
To tell them how to snack wisely.
To start the assembly, ask the children who had breakfast this morning and
who has breakfast every day.
Note: You may wish to play the short HEW video Meal occasions.
http://voice.adobe.com/v/5uXQvCoprNU
What is breakfast?
Breakfast is our first meal of the day, it is the first meal we have after getting
out of bed.
Breakfast means, you are ‘breaking the fast’ that has occurred whilst you
have been sleeping, as we don’t have anything to eat whilst we are
sleeping.
Breakfast should always be eaten every day, before we start work at school.
This can take place either at home with your family, on the way to
work/school (on the go) or even at special school breakfast clubs.
Breakfast should be eaten every day, weekdays and weekends, even if you
are not going to work or school.
Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day.
Why breakfast is so important?
Breakfast helps our bodies to wake up in the morning, by providing us with
energy, so that we are ready for the day ahead.
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014
Eating breakfast helps to stop us from feeling hungry mid-morning before
lunchtime, which may help prevent us from snacking on foods high in fat
and/or sugar when are tummies start to rumble.
Breakfast has also been shown to help us concentrate at school or work, and
stop us from feeling moody or tired.
Eating breakfast in the morning has also been shown to help us maintain our
weight.
Ways to make a healthy breakfast
Here are some things that you could do to make your breakfast healthier.
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Follow The eatwell plate to choose a healthy selection of breakfast
foods.
Try to include as many foods from the different food groups of The
eatwell plate as possible, so that your breakfast is more balanced.
For example having breakfast cereals with milk topped with fruit would
cover three different eatwell plate food groups. With the fruit coming
from the Fruit and vegetable eatwell plate food group, the cereal from
the Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods eatwell plate
food group, and the milk from the Milk and dairy foods eatwell plate
food group.
Include a drink with your breakfast, e.g. a glass of 100% fruit juice or
maybe a fruit smoothie, which count towards your 5 A DAY.
Go for wholegrain varieties when possible, for more fibre, which is good
for our gut.
Add fruit to your cereal to include more of your 5 A DAY.
Try using healthier cooking methods such as boiling eggs instead of
frying them.
Compare food labels to choose breakfast cereals which are lower in
salt/sugar.
Don’t skip breakfast, always have something for breakfast every day,
even if it’s just a piece of fruit – make time for breakfast.
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014
There are also some breakfast foods that are high in fat/sugar/salt, which
we should therefore cut down on, and eat less of.
For example:
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Reduce the amount of cereals high in sugar and or salt that you
consume.
Use butter and high sugar spreads, such as jam or chocolate spread,
on bread and toast sparingly.
If you don’t have time for a proper breakfast, instead of reaching for a
chocolate bar or a packet of crisps, have a piece of fruit or a fruit
smoothie.
Hands Up
Ask the children who is going to have breakfast tomorrow.
Love your lunch!
Ask the children who is having a packed lunch today and who is having a
school meal.
Explain to the children that there are five steps to building a healthy lunch.
The first step is including a starchy food. Starchy foods are foods from the
Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods group of the eatwell
plate. Children should have a variety of starchy food over the week, e.g.
potatoes, pasta, rice, cous cous. They should choose high fibre options where
possible (e.g. jacket potato with skin, brown rice or wholemeal pasta) as this
will help keep them fuller for longer. Starchy foods cooked in oil or fat, e.g.
fried chips, should be limited to an occasional treat.
Children should include plenty of fruit and vegetables in their lunch. Children
could add a side salad or vegetables to their lunch. Choosing vegetable
based sauces (e.g. a tomato and vegetable sauce) can count towards your
5 A DAY. For dessert, children could grab a piece of fruit, a fruit salad or a fruit
based dessert.
Children should include meat, fish, eggs, beans or other non-dairy protein.
They should choose different meat, fish or vegetarian options over the course
of the week. Pick a main meal fish – these contain meat, fish, eggs, beans or
other non-dairy sources of protein, e.g. tofu. As we need to eat 2 portions of
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014
fish each week (one oily), we should choose fish when we spot it on the
menu.
The next step is to include milk, cheese or yogurt with their lunch. Children
could have a glass of milk with their lunch, try some cheese and crackers or
choose a yogurt or fromage frais.
Finally, include a drink! Children should have a drink with lunch everyday and
keep well hydrated throughout the rest of the day. Children should choose
different drinks over the week – some provide vitamins and minerals. Children
should drink plenty of water, drink milk regularly, drink fruit juice in moderation
and can have one smoothie a day.
Top tips for a healthier lunch
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Make sure you have a healthy lunch every day – try not to miss lunch or
make unhealthy choices.
Choose a variety of foods from each of the groups – select different
types and combinations each day.
Try new foods – if you see something on the menu which you haven’t
tasted before, why not choose it and give it a try?
Eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables – different fruit and vegetables
contain different combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other
nutrients.
Pick lower fat/sugar/salt options where possible – we need to limit the
amount of foods that we eat which are high in fat, sugar and salt. For
example you could choose a reduced fat yogurt instead of a full fat
one.
Eat with your friends and be sociable – take the time to enjoy your
lunch and catch up with friends.
Composite lunchtime dishes
A composite dish contains foods from more than one food group. Many of
the foods we eat at lunchtime are composite dishes.
Ask the children to identify what food groups are in the composite dishes, a
fish pie and lasagna. In the fish pie, there is mashed potato topping (starchy
food), salmon and prawns (meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy
protein) and peas (fruit and vegetables). Ask children what food group is
missing and what they could add from that group to the lunch. The fish pie
served with vegetables contains no foods from the milk and dairy group (e.g.
milk, yogurt and cheese). The children could choose to add a glass of milk,
some cheese and crackers or a yogurt to the lunch.
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014
Delicious dinners
For many people the evening meal tends to be the main meal of the day.
Ask the children whether the evening meal is their main meal.
Sharing an evening meal with family or friends is a great way to relax and
catch up on the day’s events. For example, you can tell your family what you
have been doing at school that day or tell friends your plans for the
weekend.
Dinner is also a great opportunity to practice your cooking skills, as the
evening is generally when we have the most time to cook. Try to experiment
with new flavours and cooking methods to impress.
Making dinner time healthy
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Choose wholegrain versions of starchy carbohydrates where possible
(e.g. wholemeal pasta, wholegrain bread). These are higher in fibre so
will help keep you fuller for longer.
Make sure your dinner contains plenty of vegetables – add vegetables
to sauces, stirfrys, pies and casseroles. Serve meals with different
vegetables or salads to keep it interesting.
Don’t add salt to your cooking or at the table – instead to add flavour
you can experiment with herbs and spices.
Try grilling/baking/steaming foods instead of frying, to reduce the
amount of fat used.
Smart snacking
Ask children what their favourite snack is and do they think that it is healthy.
Why do they think it is healthy?
Explain to children that it is fine to have snacks as part of our diet – as long as
we have a healthy balance of foods and keep active. We should try to
choose snacks which provide some energy (preferably in the form of
carbohydrate), vitamins and minerals and not too much fat, sugar or salt.
If we aim for three regular meals a day, we shouldn’t need a lot of snacks. If
you can make one of your snacks a fruit or vegetable it will count towards
your 5 A DAY.
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014
Summary
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We should have three regular meals a day – breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it is important not
to skip it.
Try and follow The eatwell plate to choose healthy, varied, balanced
meals.
It is fine to snack – we just need to snack wisely!
Extension ideas
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Discuss breakfast around the world – investigate different cultures and
foods eaten.
Include a demonstration, which could be for example preparing and
tasting a fruit smoothie.
Have all the ingredients ready prepared, so that all you have to do is
pour the ingredients into the blender and mix them up.
Have some of the children come up and try the fruit smoothie.
Remember to check that the children trying this do not have any
allergies or intolerances to the ingredients included.
Also talk about the following:
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You do not have time for breakfast in the morning, as you can have it
on the go, and it also counts towards some of your 5 a day.
It can also be made the night before, if you do not have the time in the
morning.
It can also be had as a drink with the rest of your breakfast.
© British Nutrition Foundation 2014