Are you trying to make a lifestyle change toward a positive goal, but don’t know where to begin? Or, maybe you’re an educator or community leader who needs some guidance in how to communicate an effective lesson plan to others on how to be healthy? If so, Eat Healthy, Be Active is a great resource for you!
Eat Healthy, Be Active is a curriculum workshop series developed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and is based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. There are six one-hour workshops included, each one containing a lesson plan, learning objectives, talking points, hands-on activities, videos, and handouts.
Eat Healthy, Be Active is designed for educators, health promotors, dietitians, etc. to inform adults about a variety of ways to improve their health and diet habits through various workshops. There are six session topics, which include: Enjoy Healthy Food That Tastes Great, Quick Healthy Meals and Snacks, Eating Healthy on a Budget, Top Tips for Losing Weight and Keeping It Off, Making Healthy Eating a Part of Your Total Lifestyle, and Physical Activity is Key to Well Living. Based off of these workshop titles, it is clear that the curriculum covers a broad range of topics and enables educators to teach the community many ways to improve upon their overall health through diet and exercise. While the curriculum is designed for educators to use and implement, it could also be of helpful use to the general population if they wanted to follow it on their own, without the guidance of an educator.
The workshops provide a guided format lesson plan to direct educators in the right direction for when they are teaching the curriculum. Included in the lesson plans are: timing for each session, an icebreaker, talking points, learning objectives, handouts, a video, time for stretching and a break, an activity, followed by a question and answer session and time for an evaluation.
Eat Healthy, Be Active is a great resource to turn to when looking for tips on how to improve your lifestyle and/or teach others to improve theirs. Being that it is based off of the most recent guidelines, this curriculum is a reliable and effective source for getting started in the right direction.
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/workshops/
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/workshops/DGA_Workshops_Complete.pdf