Healthy Eating -The Eatwell Plate

Workshop

30-45 Minutes

What you need:

1. A Pictorial Eatwell Plate Poster or a slide of the poster.

2. The Eatwell Plate Worksheet (diagram with blank sections)

3. The Complete Eatwell Plate % slide/sheet (diagram showing sizes of sections for each food group).

The Eatwell Plate

30-45 Minutes

Introduction and Background Information to the SessionTo be as healthy as we can be we must eat a balance of all foods. This will ensure that our body has everything it needs to function at its best and to carry out all the process that have to occur to keep us living. The Eatwell Plate helps those cooking food and those eating food to picture how to balance different food groups for a healthy diet.

The different sections of the Eatwell Plate are:

• Bread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta and other starchy foods• Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans and other non dairy sources of protein• Milk and Dairy Foods• Fruit and Vegetables• Foods and Drinks containing Fat and Sugar

Bread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta and other starchy foods

Examples of these foods include: Pasta, Rice, Noodles,

Pitta Bread, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Breakfast Other Cereals.

These foods are also known as Starchy Foods. Starch is a type of Carbohydrate.

We need these foods to give us energy. The energy that we get from these foods

provides our bodies with long lasting energy so we can keep active for long

periods of time. Wholegrain (brown) varieties of these foods also provide us with Fibre.

Fibre helps keep our digestive system healthy.

Milk and Dairy FoodsExamples of these foods include: Milk - skimmed,

semi-skimmed and whole, Cream, Butter, Cheese, Yoghurt

These foods are a source of Protein and Minerals. Minerals

include Calcium, which keeps our teeth and bones healthy.

These foods can be high in Fat, and we need to be thinking carefully

how much of these foods we eat.

Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans and other non dairy sources of proteinExamples of these foods include: Chicken, Beef, Ham,

Sausages, Bacon, Cod, Haddock,

Baked Beans, Lentils, Kidney Beans

These foods provide us with Protein. Protein helps the body

grow and repair itself. These foods also supple the body with

essential Vitamins and Minerals.

Fruit and VegetablesExamples of these include:

Fresh, frozen or canned vegetables, Fresh,

frozen or canned fruit, Dried fruit,

Fruit juice

Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables helps to keep your

body healthy and fight infections. These foods include lots of

Vitamins, Minerals and some Fibre.

You should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Fruit juice only

counts as one portion a day no matter how many times you drink it. Juice and dried

fruits contain lots of sugar and are best kept to mealtimes to keep your teeth healthy.

Foods and Drinks Containing Fat and SugarExamples of these include: Butter, Margarine,

Biscuits, Cakes, Puddings, Chocolate, Sweets,

Crisps Sugary Drinks

These foods contain Sugar, which is a Carbohydrate. These

foods provide us with energy; this energy is only short

lasting unlike the starchy foods that provide us with long

lasting energy. We need to be careful how many of these

foods we eat as they are bad for out teeth and can cause us to gain

weight. Therefore these foods should be eaten as a treat.

Suggestions for delivering the Session• Vary the approach according to the level and prior knowledge of learners.

• Use the Introduction and Background Information to introduce the Eatwell Plate and the 5 food groups.

• Ask the learners to name the 5 food groups and to give examples of food products from each of the food groups.

• Choosing one food group at a time, ask learners why we need food from that group. Continue until all 5 food groups have been discussed.

• Ask learners to allocate a number (1 – 5) to each food group. (Give a 5 to the food group people should eat most of and 1 for the food group people should eat least.)

• Discuss answers and demonstrate a balanced diet by showing the Pictorial EatwellPlate Poster (slide or full size poster) and then identifying which food groups we should be eating most of, the least of and which ones are in the middle.

• Remove the Pictorial Eatwell Plate Poster and hand out the Eatwell Plate Worksheet. Ask the learners to identify which food group belongs to each section of the blank diagram of the Eatwell Plate.

• Demonstrate the correct balance of food using the Complete Eatwell Plate % slide which divides the plate into sections, with the size of each section representing how much of that food group we should eat i.e.

• As a summary show the Pictorial Eatwell Plate Poster (or slide) again and recap each of the Food Groups by pointing to each photo of a different food product and asking learners to call out the name. Once learners have identified all the photos, ask them to suggest other examples not shown.

33% 33%

12%

7%15%

Fruit and VegetablesBread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta and other starchy foodsMilk and Dairy FoodsFoods and Drinks containing Fats and SugarsMeat, Fish, Eggs, Beans and other non dairy sources of protein

A Pictorial Eatwell Plate Poster

The Eatwell Plate Worksheet

Draw an arrow from each of the Food Groups to the correct

section on the diagram.

• Bread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta and other starchy foods• Fruit and Vegetables• Meat, Fish, Eggs, Beans and other non dairy sources of

protein• Milk and Dairy Foods• Foods and Drinks Containing Fats and Sugars

The Complete Eatwell Plate (%)

33% 33%

15%7%

12%

Fruit and VegetablesBread, Rice, Potatoes, Pasta and other starchy foodsMilk and Dairy Foods

Foods and Drinks containing Fats and SugarsMeat, Fish, Eggs, Beans and other non dairy sources of protein