Healthy Eating Tales #1: Gala Apples and Other Foods

Healthy Eating Tales: Introducing Tommy, Tammy, and the Food Pyramid Kids

When Tammy woke up the next morning, she thought, "That was a really strange dream. Wouldn't that be funny if Tommy and I really have Food Pyramid Kids living inside of our stomachs?"

She headed for the bathroom and saw Tommy. She said, "Boy, Tommy, I had the strangest dream."

Tommy said, "I did too. I dreamed that you and I have Food Pyramid Kids living inside of our stomachs."

Tammy said, "Yeah! I did too. They sure weren't very happy about the food we ate yesterday."

Tommy said, "No, they weren't. Plus, my Food Pyramid Boy wants to get his pyramid filled up with color before your Food Pyramid Girl does."

Tammy said, "Well, my Food Pyramid Girl wants to get her pyramid filled in with color before your Food Pyramid Boy does."

A Race to get the last Gala Apple in the House

Suddenly, Tammy seemed to hear a voice coming from inside of her. The voice whispered, "Hey, Tammy! If you're going to beat Tommy to the last apple in the house, you better get ready for school as fast as you can."

Tammy said, "Well, I better get ready for school. See you at breakfast, Tommy." Then Tammy hurried inside of the bathroom.

Tommy said, "Yeah! See you down there." Then he hurried back to his bedroom.

Both Tammy and Tommy got ready for school as fast as they could. Then Tammy ran for the top of the stairs. She looked up and saw Tommy barreling toward her. They both raced each other down the stairs.

As they raced toward the kitchen, they both stopped short. Why?

Their mother had stepped into the doorway at that very moment, blocking the way into the kitchen. She said, "Good morning, Kids!"

Of course, Tommy and Tammy couldn't knock their mother over. Tommy tried to figure out a way to sidestep his mother.

In the meantime, Tammy said, "Morning, Mom!" Quickly, she slipped between the left side of her mother and the door, entered the kitchen, ran over to the fruit bowl, and grabbed the last Gala Apple in the bowl.

Tommy finally managed to get past his mother and raced over to the bowl as well. He complained, "It's empty!"

Tammy quickly took a bite of the Gala Apple before Tommy could try to grab it out of her hands. She whispered, "I beat you!"

Food Pyramid Girl, who had x-ray vision, looked over at Food Pyramid Boy and said, "Ha-ha! Tammy's eating the last apple."

Food Pyramid Boy whispered to Tommy, "Hey, Tommy. Get your mother to buy more apples."

Tommy nodded his head and said, "Mom!"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Yes, Tommy?"

Tommy asked, "Could you buy some more Gala Apples today, please?"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Yes, Tommy, I could do that. Put that on my grocery list."

Tommy walked over and wrote Gala Apples on the grocery list.

A Conversation about the Food Pyramid

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Now, I've already fixed you your favorite chocolate chip waffles. What would you like to drink?"

Tammy looked at Tommy. Tommy looked at Tammy. It was clear that the two fourth graders were not sure what drinks would be most pleasing to the Food Pyramid Kids.

Finally, Tommy said, "Uh, ..., do you have any orange juice?"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Yes, I do."

Tommy said, "I would like orange juice to drink."

As Tammy continued to munch her apple, she did some figuring. She thought, "Hmmm! I am supposed to have 1 ½ fruits today. The apple counts as one. A glass of orange juice counts as one; however, I don't really want to drink orange juice and eat an apple in the same meal. We're also supposed to have three cups of milk or other milk products today. I know! I'll ask for a glass of milk."

Tammy looked at her mother and said, "I'd like a glass of milk, please."

Food Pyramid Girl whispered, "Nice going, Tammy! Why don't you get your mother to buy those small boxes of raisins? You can eat those as an afternoon snack."

Tammy said aloud, "Great idea!"

Mrs. Tompkins asked, "What's a great idea?"

Tammy said, "Oh! I just thought up a great idea. Would you please buy us some small boxes of raisins?"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Yes, but why?"

Tammy said, "Mom, we've been studying the food pyramid at school. We've learned that we all need to eat one and a half fruits every day to be healthy. My apple counts as one."

Tommy said, "My glass of orange juice counts as one."

Tammy said, "So a small box of raisins would count as the other half."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Oh! Well, that makes sense. Go ahead and write it on my list."

Tammy got up and wrote raisins on her mother's grocery list."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "I've just thought of something. If Tommy eats an apple later on today plus a glass of orange juice, he will have consumed two fruits today rather than just one and a half."

Tommy and Tammy looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly, Tommy seemed to hear Food Pyramid Boy whispering, "It's okay to eat more fruits and vegetables and milk products than we need. It's not so okay to eat too much grains or meat and proteins. And it's definitely not okay to eat too many oils."

Tommy said, "Oh! I know the answer to that Mom. Since fruit and vegetables are so good for us, it's okay to eat more than one and half fruits each day."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "How many vegetables are you supposed to eat each day?"

Tammy said, "We're supposed to eat 2 and a half cups of vegetables daily. Other than the tomato sauce on the pizza, we did not have any vegetables yesterday. So do you think you could buy those mini carrot sticks for us to snack on after school?"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Yes, I can do that. Plus I can make certain I serve you more vegetables as well. Before I forget, put carrot sticks on my list."

Tammy got up, threw her apple core away, and wrote carrot sticks on her mother's grocery list.

Mrs. Tompkins said, "What else are you supposed to have each day?"

Tommy said, "We're supposed to have three cups of milk or milk products every day. I don't want to have orange juice and milk for breakfast; but I will drink chocolate milk at lunch today plus I'll drink milk for dinner tonight. No more drinking Coca Cola for me except on special occasions."

Tammy said, "Yeah! I'm going to stop drinking Coca Cola as well. Plus, I plan to drink chocolate milk at lunch and white milk at dinner tonight. That way, I'll get my three cups of milk that I'm supposed to have."

Tommy said, "Mom, could you buy strawberry yogurt, please? I can get my third cup of milk products by eating yogurt either with dinner or after dinner."

Mrs. Tompkins smiled and said, "Goodness! I can see I'm going to have a long grocery list today. Add it on, Tommy."

Tommy got up and wrote strawberry yogurt on his mother's list."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "What else are you supposed to have each day?"

Tammy said, "We're supposed to have six ounces of grains. By the way, I love chocolate chip waffles; however, they're not that good for me. I think I'll only have them two days a week from now on."

Tommy said, "Me too!"

Mrs. Tompkins said, "What else would you want to eat for breakfast?"

Tammy said, "Well! We're also supposed to have five ounces of meat, beans, and protein each day. Our teacher said if we eat one tablespoon of peanut butter on a half of a whole wheat English Muffin, that would count as one ounce of protein. That would also count as one ounce of grains. If we eat a whole English Muffin with a tablespoon of peanut butter on each half, that would count as two ounces of grain and two ounces of protein. So I think I would like to eat that two or three mornings a week because I really enjoy the taste of peanut butter. By the way, I like crunchy peanut butter."

Tommy said, "Not me! I like smooth peanut butter. Plus, I would want to add some grape jelly to mine. I don't really like to eat peanut butter by itself."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Okay! We already have both kinds of peanut butter in the house. We also have grape jelly. We don't have any whole wheat English Muffins. Tommy, go add English Muffins to my list."

Tommy got up again and wrote whole wheat English Muffins on his mother's list.

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Okay, let me see if I have this straight. You need to eat how many vegetables each day?"

Tommy said, "Two and a half cups of vegetables each day."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "All right. I'll make certain I do a better job of serving you vegetables at dinner."

Tammy said, "Between apples, orange juice, and raisins, we'll get enough fruit each day."

Tommy said, "Between drinking milk and eating yogurt, we'll get enough milk products each day."

Tammy said, "Plus, we can eat cheese. That's another milk product that is good for us."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "How many meat and beans and proteins do you need to eat each day?"

Tommy said, "We need to have five ounces daily."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Well, that's not going to be hard to do. It sounds like if you eat peanut butter for breakfast and I serve you some meat or seafood for dinner, you'll definitely get enough protein."

Tammy said, "We could also eat eggs sometimes or nuts. Those two things count as a protein too."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "What about the grains? You still need three more ounces of grains each day. What else can you eat that would count as grains?"

Tommy said, "Well, we could eat pasta or brown rice or even low fat popcorn. Those all count as grains."

Tammy said, "Other grains include whole-wheat crackers, whole wheat toast, and some cereals made with whole grains."

Tommy said, "Our teacher talked about it's important to mostly eat whole wheat products rather than products made with white flour. She said that is a lot healthier."

Mrs. Tompkins said, "Okay, this sounds very do-able. I will definitely go grocery shopping today as I want both my children to be very healthy. Plus, you both will be a good influence on me as well. I could stand to eat healthier as well."

Tommy and Tammy looked very pleased. They ate the rest of their breakfast in peace as they thought about other ways to help the Food Pyramid Kids fill in as many of their colors as possible. Not only would the Food Pyramid Kids be healthy and happy, Tommy and Tammy and their mother would be healthy and happy as too.

Note to Teacher: Display the poster of the Food Pyramid Kids.

Classroom Task #1

The teacher should pass out the Food Pyramid Coloring Sheet to each student.

Hint to Teacher: Should there be a question of whether a particular food or drink contains grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk, or fruit and beans, type it into the following link called My Food-A-Pedia: http://www.myfoodapedia.gov/Default.aspx

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A waffle will be described in this way:

Grain Group1 oz.
Total Calories : 103 calories

Extras*29 calories *(solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol)

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Waffle syrup will be described in this way:

Total Calories: 53 calories

Extras* 49 calories

*(solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol)

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Chocolate chips will be described in this way:

Oils 2 tsp

Total Calories: 201 calories

Extras* 16 calories

*(solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol)

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An apple will be described in this way:

Fruit Group 1 cup

Total Calories: 55 calories

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A glass or orange juice will be described in this way:

Fruit Group 1 cup

Total Calories : 105 calories

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A glass of 1% milk will be described in this way:

Milk Group 1 cup

Total Calories: 102 calories

Extras* 20 calories

*(solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol)

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The teacher should also make two columns on the white board that look like this:

Tommy -----|----- Tammy

Teacher Says or Asks: I am going to give each of you a Food Pyramid Coloring Sheet. You will need to get out the following color crayons or markers: orange, green, red, yellow, blue, and purple.

1. I need a volunteer to come to the board and under the Tommy column, write down what Tommy ate for breakfast.

Students Respond: He ate chocolate chip waffles with waffle syrup.

Tommy

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Tammy

2. I need a volunteer to come to the board and under the Tommy column, write down what Tommy drank for breakfast.

Students Respond: He drank a glass of orange juice.

Tommy

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Orange Juice

Tammy

3. I need a volunteer to come to the board and under the Tammy column, write down what Tammy ate for breakfast.

Students Respond: She ate chocolate chip waffles with waffle syrup and a Gala Apple.

Tommy
Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Orange Juice

Tammy

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Gala Apple

4. I need a volunteer to come to the board and under the Tammy column, write down what Tammy drank for breakfast.

Students Respond: She drank a glass of milk.

Tommy

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Orange Juice

Tammy

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffle Syrup

Gala Apple

Milk

5. How many grains are we supposed to eat each day?

Students Respond: Six ounces of grains.

6. Look at the list on the board and determine how many grains Tommy ate for breakfast?

Students Respond: A waffle counts as one ounce of grains.

7. Take your orange crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in one-sixth of the grains stripe on Food Pyramid Boy to indicate how many grains Tommy ate for breakfast.

8. Look at the list on the board and determine how many grains Tammy ate for breakfast?

Students Respond: A waffle counts as one ounce of grains.

9. Take your orange crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in one-sixth of the grains stripe on Food Pyramid Girl to indicate how many grains Tammy ate for breakfast.

10. How many oils are we supposed to eat each day?

Students Respond: Five ounces of oils.

11. Look at the list on the board and determine how many oils Tommy ate for breakfast?

Students Respond: There are two ounces of oils in the chocolate chips in the waffles.

12. Take your yellow crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in two-fifths of the oil stripe on Food Pyramid Boy to indicate how many oils Tommy ate for breakfast.

13. Look at the list on the board and determine how many oils Tammy ate for breakfast?

Students Respond: There are two ounces of oils in the chocolate chips in the waffles.

14. Take your yellow crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in two-fifths of the oil stripe on Food Pyramid Boy to indicate how many oils Tammy ate for breakfast.

15. How many fruits are we supposed to eat each day?

Students Respond: One and a half cups of fruits.

16. Look at the list on the board and determine how many fruits Tommy ate or drank for breakfast?

Students Respond: A glass of orange juice counts as one cup of fruit.

17. Take your red crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in two-thirds of the fruits stripe on Food Pyramid Boy to indicate how many fruits Tommy ate for breakfast.

18. Look at the list on the board and determine how many fruits Tammy ate for breakfast?

Students Respond: A small Gala Apple counts as one cup of fruit.

19. Take your red crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in two-thirds of the fruits stripe on Food Pyramid Boy to indicate how many fruits Tammy ate for breakfast.

20. How many cups of milk or milk products are we supposed to consume each day?

Students Respond: Three cups of milk or milk products.

21. Look at the list on the board and determine how many milk products Tommy consumed for breakfast?

Students Respond: NONE

22. Look at the list on the board and determine how many milk products Tammy consumed for breakfast?

Students Respond: A glass of milk counts as one cup of milk or milk products.

23. Take your blue crayon and starting at the bottom of the pyramid, color in one-third of the milks stripe on Food Pyramid Girl to indicate how many milk products Tammy consumed for breakfast.

24. Now, let's determine which Food Pyramid Kid won. In other words, which Food Pyramid Kid got more of his or her colors filled in during the breakfast that Tommy and Tammy ate?

Students Respond: Food Pyramid Girl was the winner during breakfast.

Classroom Task #2

Teacher Says or Asks: We are now going to do a partner activity. You will pair up with a buddy for a Food Pyramid Buddy combination. If you are a boy, you can choose to either pair up with another boy or a girl. If you are a girl, you can choose to either pair up with another girl or a boy.

a. Everybody take time to pair up now.

Notes to Teacher:

* Please note: If there is an uneven number of students, let three students work together.

* Hand out the Food Pyramid Menu Fill-In Pages for either two boys, two girls, or a boy and a girl.

Food Pyramid Menu Fill-In Page for two boys

Food Pyramid Menu Fill-In Page for two girls

Food Pyramid Menu Fill-In Page for a boy and a girl

b. I am going to give each of you a Food Pyramid Menu Fill-In Page. You will still need to keep out the following color crayons or markers: orange, green, red, yellow, blue, and purple.

c. If you are a boy and working with another boy, each of you write your name above one of the Food Pyramid Boys. If you are a girl and working with another girl, each of you write your name above one of the Food Pyramid Girls. If you are a boy and girl working together, the boy should write his name above the Food Pyramid Boy. The girls should write her name above the Food Pyramid Girl.

d. I want you to recall what you ate yesterday. List the food you ate and the things you drank, one food item per number. If you ate more than sixteen items, list the remaining food and drinks on the back of this paper.

e. Once you get that done, I want you and your partner to help each other figure out whether you ate any grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk products, or meat and beans.

Hint to Teacher: Should there be a question of whether a particular food or drink contains grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk, or fruit and beans, type it into the following link called My Food-A-Pedia: http://www.myfoodapedia.gov/Default.aspx

f. Color in the Food Pyramid Kid with the appropriate colors to match up with the things you ate and drank the previous day. In the end, we will see which one of you managed to fill in more of your Food Pyramid Kid with color.

Classroom Task #3

Note to Teacher: To help reinforce the concept of eating healthy, you may want to make this a daily competition.