Lesson 1 Handout 1 Name Message from Tillie One day Lavonne, Daniel, Marcus, and Marie were working on math problems on their classroom computer. Lavonne: Hey! What s going on? I just lost my math problem! Didn t you save it? Lavonne: Sure I did. But... listen! The computer s making a weird noise. It s buzzing! It s burping! It s flashing! Lavonne: It s gurgling! All: It s Tillie Tellstar! That s right! Wow! It sure was hard making contact with you! How did you get on our computer screen? It wasn t easy! I think I caught a few viruses along the way. Achoo! What are you doing here, Tillie? Do you remember last year when I interviewed some kids in your class before you started GO for Health? Sure. Well, I ve been asked to do a follow-up story to see how it s going with all of you now that you re in fifth grade.
How what is going? Your healthful eating and physical activity, of course. Lavonne: Tillie, sometimes I feel like it s going, going, gone. What do you mean? Lavonne: Well, I feel like I learned a lot last year about eating GO foods and doing GO activities. But after a while it s hard to keep it up. What s been the hardest thing about it? Lavonne: Umm... mostly trying to eat GO snacks. It s hard to stick to healthy foods when there are so many WHOA foods around like ice cream and beef jerky and buttered popcorn. Sounds like sticking with it is a sticky problem! It sure is! I like to go skating at the roller rink, and the only things to eat there are WHOA foods from vending machines... candy and cookies and chips. I guess I could figure out something to take along. But it s easier to eat stuff from the machines. I think I d do okay if I just didn t eat so much when I eat WHOA foods! Sometimes I forget that foods are GO, SLOW, or WHOA. By the time I remember, I ve already eaten and it s too late to do anything about it. Well, Planet Strongheart wasn t built in a day, you know. It takes time to change old habits and figure out how to deal with things like vending machines and ever-present WHOA snacks. What about GO activities? Are they still going or have they gone? I walk every once in a while. To be honest, I d rather watch TV. But I do like CATCH PE at school.
What did you do during the summer, Daniel? I was the world s greatest couch potato! Well, that s a kind of potato that isn t very healthy. How about you, Marcus? I was on a soccer team in the spring and summer. And that was fun. But we don t play soccer in the fall and winter. Hmmm. Sounds like all of you have some barriers that are keeping you from doing GO activities and eating GO foods. I think this will make an interesting story. I better get busy because I have a lot to do and <bleep> Hey! What happened to the computer? Lavonne: I don t know! It bleeped. Then the screen went blank right after Tillie said she d better get busy because she had a lot to do. Speaking of having a lot to do, I think we better get busy eating GO foods and doing GO activities again. That s for sure. But how are we going to do it? If we could just figure out what barriers Tillie was talking about, maybe we d know what to get busy doing. Good idea I think. But what are barriers anyway?
Family Component Health Trek The Journey Continues Dear GO for Health 5 Student and Parent(s), Welcome to the fifth grade GO for Health 5 family program called Health Trek The Journey Continues. During this program you will receive six tip sheets to help your family break through barriers to healthful living and to make healthful eating and physical activity a regular part of your lives. We ask that you work together as a home team, which consists of the fifth grade student and his or her parent(s). (If a parent is unable to participate in this program, another adult or older brother or sister may participate instead.) Please read the Health Trek tip sheets and do the activities in them together. Directions for Health Trek 1 Find out some of the barriers to healthful living your family may have by answering the Check It Out! questions. Complete the Top 5 Barriers to Healthful Living activity by writing down any barriers your family discovered after answering the questions. Fill out the return slip (front and back) at the bottom of the tip sheet, carefully cut or tear it off on the dotted line, and have the student return it to his or her CATCH classroom teacher. Post the Check It Out! questions where everybody can see them and be reminded of some examples of staying on the right trek. Each time the student brings back a return slip indicating that together all of you have completed the tip sheet, his or her teacher will record this on a classroom chart. Thank you for taking part in Health Trek The Journey Continues.
Health Trek 1: Confronting Barriers Check It Out! Is your home team on the right trek in your eating and physical activity habits? For each question, circle one answer. How often does your home team: 3 = Often 2 = Sometimes 1 = Seldom 1. Drink, and cook with, non-fat/skim or 1% low-fat milk, unsweetened soy or rice milk instead of 2% or whole milk? 2. Do a physical activity such as walking, jogging, riding a bicycle, swimming, doing yoga, or lifting weights? 3. Eat a fruit and/or a vegetable at meals and snacks? 4. Cook or bake with healthier fats such as olive oil or vegetable oil instead of shortening, margarine, butter, or lard? 5. Take the stairs instead of using the elevator or escalator? 6. Eat broiled, baked, or grilled foods instead of fried foods? 7. Walk or ride a bike to get from place to place? 8. Eat a small serving of an entrée or dessert instead of a large serving? 9. Add salt to foods just before eating them? 10. Drink water instead of a soft drink, sports drink, or energy drink? 11. Eat whole-grain foods such as whole-wheat bread or brown rice instead of refined-grain foods such as white bread and white rice? 12. Take a walk together? 13. Choose a small-size popcorn instead of a large-size at the movie theater? 14. Do a physical activity instead of playing video games or watching TV? 15. Eat a whole-grain, low-sugar cereal for breakfast instead of a sugary cereal? 16. Try a vegetable that you ve never tried before? Add the circled numbers and write your total here: If you answered seldom to any of these questions, ask yourselves why? As a family, identify some of your barriers to healthful behaviors and list them on the lines on the back of this page. INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE: 36 48 Keep up the good work! You re doing well by eating healthful foods and average food portion sizes, and by regularly doing physical activities. 25 35 You re on the right track! You often choose healthful foods and are generally physically active. 16 24 Be on the alert! Look back over the questions to see where your home team can make some changes to eat healthful foods more often and do more physical activities together.
THE BASICS OF HEALTHFUL LIVING Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. Eat one or more fruits and/or vegetables with every meal or snack. When you eat grains (rice, oats) and foods made with grains (bread), at least half of the time choose whole grains such as whole wheat, rye, barley, or brown rice. Consume three cups of non-fat/skim or 1% low-fat milk, unsweetened soy or rice milk, or low-fat yogurt with no added sugar each day. When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, fish, or dried beans, make choices that are lean, low-fat, and low-salt. Choose and prepare foods and beverages that are low in sodium (salt) and added sugars. Cook or bake with healthier fats, such as vegetable oil or olive oil instead of shortening, margarine, butter, or lard. Most days of the week do at least 30 minutes of physical activities (for kids: 60 minutes each day of the week). Also, consume the number of calories that are recommended for your height, weight, age, and activity level. (For information on the number of calories and amount of each food group you should consume, see www.choosemyplate.gov) Among the physical activities you do, include aerobic activities, stretching exercises, and weight lifting. Don t use tobacco. Reduce the amount of salt you use while preparing foods and before eating them. OUR HOME TEAM S Top 5 BARRIERS to Healthful Living Eating right doesn t mean completely giving up all high-fat, high-sugar, highsodium, and/or processed foods. A good rule of thumb is the 80% rule. This rule says that if you eat healthful foods 80% of the time, you can still eat higher-fat, higher-sodium, and/or processed foods once in a while (20% of the time). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
YES! We read Health Trek 1, completed the checklist, and listed some barriers. Check the adults on your home team for Health Trek 1: Mom Dad Other Student Teacher Due date for return slip Health Trek 1
Health Trek The Journey Continues Classroom Scoreboard: CATCH Classroom Teacher s Name: Student s Name HT 1 HT 2 HT 3 HT 4 HT 5 HT 6 TOTAL