Lesson Plan
Title: Taking the Road Less Traveled
Target audience: African American businessmen
Nutrition education model/theory used (including constructs):
- Social Ecological Model: This model functions on the idea that change is best implemented when introduced at different levels of personal, behavioral and environmental leverage points. We addressed three of the levels included in the model in our PSA specifically:
- Community level– Business trips are often fast paced, rushed, and on-the-go. This type of environment has cultural norms that force individuals to choose unhealthy; picking up whatever is fast and easy.
- Organizational level– Used three different environments that would be common for businessmen to visit, such as Sheetz, Panera, and hotel breakfasts to show healthy options vs unhealthy options within environment.
- Individual level– African American businessmen may not know the health differences between freshed and processed meats, or which foods to navigate towards in a convenience store. We will inform them which foods are better choices. Men in this position might not have the attitude that lends them towards wanting to make better choices because they are professionally focused, not necessarily health oriented. Making them aware of the risks of CHD and how to make simple choices to reduce their risk will change both their knowledge and their attitude.
Goals:
- Target audience is able to identify healthy fat sources
- Target audience audience understands how to reduce sodium
- Target audience is able to identify which foods are highest in sodium
Objectives: at least 1 per goal
- Teach the difference between lean and fatty protein sources by addressing the menu choices.
- Address how to introduce healthy oils, avocados, nuts in place of saturated fat sources.
- Explain the difference between the sodium content in a bag of chips and in fresh, refrigerated foods.
- Establish which breakfast foods add the most sodium to the diet.
Materials: list exactly what you will need to carry out the education lesson; Your PSA should be part of the presentation.
- PSA video
- Salt
- Containers for salt
- Bags of chips
- Activity PPT
- Teaspoon
- Handouts
Activities: What activities will take place during the education lesson?
- The first activity will be to show that the daily recommendation of salt (2,300 mg) is equal to 1 teaspoon.
- After showing the PSA Video, we will pour into a container (16,100 mg) how much salt is recommended to eat in a week and how much salt you would eat if you ate a bag of chips (4,340 mg) and or pretzels (23,030 mg) every day for lunch.
Content outline: detailed nutrition information about your lesson
- Coronary Heart Disease is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death of both genders in the United States. Coronary Heart Disease is defined as the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries that can lead to a heart attack. According to an article from the American Heart Association, “heart disease is the No.1 killer for all Americans, and stroke is also a leading cause of death. As frightening as those statistics are, the risks of getting those diseases are even higher for African-Americans”.
- Sodium content can cause risky implications if misused in our diets. High sodium content in the diet can result in an increase in blood pressure. Increased blood pressure has great risks for implications such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. For our bodies to function, we still need sodium in our diets as an essential nutrient. Sodium plays roles in regulating the functions of our muscles and nerves, but should be kept between 0.9 and 2.3 grams per day. Sodium can be a tricky element in diets and is often hidden in regular foods, especially foods that are highly processed like bagged snacks and breakfast meats. Make sure to keep an eye on how much sodium is consumed in a day.
- Fat content is an essential part of our diets and actually has different types of fats within. The most basic way to phrase “healthy fats” versus “unhealthy fats” is to define saturated fats as unhealthy and unsaturated fats as healthy. Trans fats are also considered unhealthy, but are recommended to not be in the diet at all. It is important to avoid all trans fats. The saturated fats are dangerous for the body in that the higher concentration they have in the diet, the higher risk for coronary heart disease. Saturated fats are stored in our bodies and surround the heart, increasing the “bad” cholesterol in the body. This increase leads to heart disease as well. Unhealthy fats can also be stored in the stomach area of the body, which is dangerous for our organs in that area. Saturated fats are found in fatty meats, creamy dressings and cheese. Unsaturated fats, however, can lower cholesterol and decrease the risk for coronary heart disease. These fats are found in nuts, oils, and avocados. All the while, fats are the macronutrient highest in calorie and should be watched carefully each day.
- Sugar content is a necessity in the diet as well, in the correct amounts and types of sugar. A diet heavy in sugar and added sugar will, over time, increase BMI and lead to weight gain and obesity. Obesity increases risk for hypertension and coronary heart disease. While natural sugars in fruits and vegetables are necessary for the body’s energy, high amounts of added sugars in the diet are extremely dangerous and lead to risk for heart disease, even when obesity is avoided. Added sugars are often hidden in foods and need to be carefully watched. Food items such as energy drinks, sports drinks, sodas, and other sweet treats are usually high in added sugars and provide zero nutritional calories, otherwise known as empty calories. It is important to avoid added sugars and to limit the amount of sugar in the diet altogether.
Lesson instructions:
- Introduction: What is CHD and why is the target audience at risk
- Pre-evaluation: Show comparisons of different food items and ask questions about each, using a handout.
- Talk about the effects sodium (including the teaspoon demonstration), saturated, fat and sugar have on your risk for coronary heart disease. Also, inform about the risks associated with CHD.
- Activity with the salt comparison between weekly recommendations and the amount of sodium in chips and pretzels.
- Show PSA video
- Post-evaluation: Retest the images from the beginning of the lesson to see how attitudes and knowledge have changed after the lesson.
- Take home message/ Conclusion
- Model: Social Ecological Model
- Questions
Evaluation: We will do a pre-activity as well as a post-activity to see what the audience has learned from our PSA/ lesson.
- Pre evaluation: Show the slideshow with two food items on each slide that asks questions about sodium, fat and sugar content. Ask the audience to write down their answers to the questions.
- Post evaluation: Go through the slideshow again and ask the audience to get up and move to one side of the room or the other based on their original answers. After each slide, give them to opportunity to move based on what they learned during the lesson. Then reveal the correct answer and elaborate a little bit on how this can be applied when traveling.
References: at least 2 credible sources of information; websites for further
reading/information (these are references the audience can refer to for further information)
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cad
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/healthy_living.htm