How Eating Healthy Foods Helps Us Stay Strong and Happy!
Have you ever thought about why your parents and teachers often remind you to eat healthy foods? The foods you eat give your body something called nutrients. Nutrients help your body and mind grow. Healthy food choices are the building blocks that support a strong and healthy body and brain. Let’s dive into what these important building blocks are and how smart food choices can help you feel your best.
What Are Nutrients?
Nutrients are the good things in food that help our bodies work well.
Here are some important ones:
Fats: Give us energy and help our brains work.
Proteins: Build strong muscles and repair our bodies.
Carbohydrates: Provide quick energy for playing and learning.
Water: Keeps us hydrated and helps everything in our bodies work smoothly.
Vitamins: Help our bodies stay healthy and fight off sickness.
Minerals: Make our bones strong and keep our hearts beating properly.
Where to Find Nutritional Information
To make good food choices, we need the right information.
Here are some places to find it:
Health professionals, school nurses, teachers, doctors: Doctors, your teacher, and nutritionists can tell you what foods are good for you.
Nutrition guidelines: These are like the rules of the game, but in this game, how to eat healthy, they give you answers to the question of how much of each type of food you should eat to get those important building blocks. LINK to Canada Food guide for kids
Food labels: These are found on food packages and tell us what’s inside and how healthy it is. (We will learn about this later)
Portion Sizes and Servings
Eating the right amount of food is important too.
Portion sizes tell us how much we should eat in one meal.
Serving sizes help us know how much of each food group we need each day.
Different Food Choices
Everyone has different food choices.
Some people might choose to be:
Vegetarian: They don’t eat meat but eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods.
Vegan: They don’t eat any animal products at all, like meat, dairy, or eggs. They eat lots of plant-based foods.
These choices can still give us all the nutrients we need if we eat a variety of healthy foods.
Why We Need Different Foods
Our bodies need a mix of different foods to get all the nutrients we need to:
Grow strong: Proteins help our muscles.
Have energy: Carbohydrates and fats give us energy to play and learn.
Stay healthy: Vitamins and minerals keep our bodies working well and protect us from getting sick.
Making Smart Food Choices
To make smart food choices, we need to:
Listen to health professionals: They know a lot about what foods are good for us.
Follow nutrition guidelines: These help us know how much of each type of food to eat.
Read food labels: They help us understand what’s in our food.
The Benefits of Healthy Foods
Eating a variety of healthy foods gives us:
Strong muscles and bones: Thanks to proteins and minerals.
Lots of energy: From carbohydrates and fats.
A healthy body: With the help of vitamins and water.
Exploring Alternative Food Choices
If you don’t eat certain foods, you can still get all your nutrients by finding alternative sources.
For example:
Vegetarians: Can get protein from beans, nuts, and tofu.
Vegans: Can get calcium from leafy green vegetables and fortified plant milks.
Stay Strong with Good Nutrition!
By learning about nutrition and making smart food choices, we can keep our bodies strong and healthy. Remember to eat a variety of foods, check food labels, and listen to health professionals to make the best choices for you.
Share Your Favorite Healthy Foods!
What’s your favorite healthy food? Share it with your teacher! Let’s help each other to eat well and stay strong.
Keep Eating Smart!
Eating healthy is a fun and important way to take care of yourself. So, keep learning about smart food choices and enjoy all the delicious, nutritious foods that help you grow and stay happy