EATING WELL

Dr Alex and young FYI presenter Xavier investigate how eating well improves your mental health, as well as your physical health. Plus, they have some tips for healthy snacks.

Follow up activities

These ideas are taken from PHE’s Healthy Eating School Resources.

Discussion: Can you spot sugar?

Discuss in groups what foods are high in sugar. Where can you make healthier swaps to reduce your sugar intake? Why is this important?

Notes for teachers/teaching staff: The biggest source of sugar in children’s and teen’s diets is sugary drinks like cola, fizzy pop, juice drinks, squashes, cordials and energy drinks. There is also lots of sugar in sweets and chocolate, fruit juice, buns, cakes, pastries and fruit pies, biscuits and some breakfast cereals. Explain to the students that eating healthily does not have to mean giving up your favourite foods. It just means eating a variety of foods and cutting down on food and drinks that are high in sugar and fat. Eating a varied and balanced diet is vital for your physical health, to ensure your body grows and develops properly. And it’ll help you feel good too. Healthier swaps could include porridge with berries, water, plain lower-fat milk, no added sugar drinks, natural yoghurt with chopped fruit or frozen berries, tinned fruit salad, and lots of vegetables!

Activity 1: Making healthy food

For schools/colleges that are able to: Try making one of the healthy recipes from the PHE’s Change4life website Or the Easy Meals app, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.

Activity 2: Checking sugar content

For schools/colleges that are not able to do this, another activity suggestion is: Download the Change4Life Food Scanner app and check the sugar content of your favourite breakfast cereal or sweets.

Create an infographic, poster or leaflet showing popular foods such as corner yoghurts, chocolate or frosted flake breakfast cereals, sweets, or chocolate bars alongside their sugar content in the form of sugar cubes. Try thinking of healthier alternatives and discuss or draw the sugar savings made by these swaps.

Activity 3: Promote healthy food choices

Produce a leaflet or poster which encourages your peers to make healthier food choices (and explains the benefits of healthy eating!).

Other activity suggestions: There are a number of resources/interactive activities about the Government’s healthy eating guidelines and other topics related to eating well on the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) website.