On Bread Alone

Do you remember the Food Pyramid and the massive block of carbs that filled the entire base? It allowed us to feed our children spongy white bread, mac ‘n’ cheese, SpaghettiOs, and chicken nuggets and feel pretty righteous about it.

Growing up, my little brother would eat a piece of white bread between two pieces of white bread and call it a bread sandwich. My mom would smile and say, “Well, we don’t have to worry about Stevie getting enough bread in his diet, do we?” In her eyes, and in the eyes of caring mothers everywhere, little Stevie was eating three of the required six to eleven servings of breads and grains.  The other three to eight servings would be consumed in large bowlfuls of Count Chocula cereal.

The Food Pyramid has gone through several evolutions throughout the last couple of decades. Each new version soon morphed into another hopefully clearer representation of a healthy American diet. 

But each version failed. 

Heart disease, strokes and obesity were on the rise, and Americans were more confused than ever about their diets.  One reason? Servings were mentioned, but serving sizes were obscure.

Then, in June of 2011, the USDA released a visual that all people can understand – a dinner plate. The plate was divided into serving sections representing healthy food groups – fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and protein. They called this helpful diet planning tool MyPlate. 

MyPlate was designed so the average user could see at a glance that half of their plate should be filled with vegetables and fruit with the rest of the plate taken up by smaller amounts of grain, protein and dairy products. The interactive version on the website was programmed to allow the user to click each section to see pictures of what serving sizes for specific foods looked like.

It’s clear and it’s smart – just how we like to teach at Shepherds College.

Recently, I had the chance to visit Mrs. Pechous and her Daily Living Skills class. A student’s parents had donated 25 MyPlates to the school which gave Mrs. Pechous the perfect teaching opportunity to lead her first-year class in portion size and healthy eating. 

Mrs. Pechous started her class by having students work in pairs to identify foods from different food groups.

The students had pictures of various foods, and Mrs. Pechous instructed them to create a balanced meal using items from each of the food groups.

Mrs. Pechous also demonstrated portion sizes using the Helping Hands method:

Palm = serving of meat, fish, poultry (3-4 oz)

Fist = cereal, soup, casserole, fresh fruit, raw veggies, salad (1 cup)

Thumb = salad dressing, sour cream, cream cheese, peanut butter, hard cheese (1-2 Tbsp)

Thumbnail = butter, margarine, mayo, oil (1 tsp)

1 cupped hand = pasta, rice, beans, potatoes, cooked veggies, pudding, ice cream (1/2 cup)

2 cupped hands = chips, crackers, pretzels (1 ounce)

The students then had the opportunity to practice the skill in a real-life application. Each person was given a MyPlate plate and asked to make a salad, putting each ingredient in the proper amount in the correct food section.

 

In this R.E.A.L. lesson, the students learned that they can take a measure of control over their own health and well-being.  What a great way to empower the students in their lifetime of Appropriate Independence!

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.