Andover Public Schools has multiplied its efforts in recent years to strengthen the teaching processes around health and nutrition. Through their política de bem-estar, they aim to motivate students to acquire healthy eating habits that reduce and prevent health risk factors from an early age. In this way, they hope to create an optimal environment by incorporating nutrition education into their health curriculum.

With this in mind, Andover Public Schools has partnered with the Framingham State University’s Coordinated Program in Dietetics to provide nutrition education to various grade levels in schools within the school district, conducted by graduate dietetic students.

On Monday, April 10, 2023, student dietitian Lisa Marmolejo conducted an educational activity with Sanborne Elementary School fifth grade and kindergarten students. During the lesson, students learned about the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains, and dairy) and their nutritional benefits on physical and mental development. They also had the opportunity to explore what types of foods make up each food group and how they can incorporate these groups into each of their meals throughout the day.

In addition, students were able to put their learning into practice with a fun group activity. During this activity, students were divided into four groups to perform a relay race with the purpose of creating a complete meal based on the five food groups explained at the beginning of the lesson.

At the end, the students were able to create balanced and nutritious meals incorporating all the food groups, understanding that a balanced meal will bring benefits to their growth and health.

Additional information about these lessons, and similar resources can be found here.

Created by: Lisa Marmolejo, Framingham State University Food and Nutrition Graduate Student in the Coordinated Program in Dietetics.