Audience: Students ages 9-12 years

General program objective: Participants will reduce overall daily sugar intake.

Specific program objective: Participants will identify added sugar on the nutrition facts label.

Behavior change strategy: Self-Efficacy

Educational activities:

• Elicit—have students select a food product with a nutrition facts label. Ask the students for their opinions on the food item and allow for open discussion.
• Explain—play the provided video for the students.
• Expand—have the students find the amount of added sugar on the nutrition facts label and discuss in small groups.
• Exit—have the children write a goal to read a nutrition facts label

Length of time to complete: 10-15 minutes, depending on length and depth of conversation

Materials Required:

• Food packaging with nutrition facts labels (maybe source from the home, or provided as printouts supplied to the students by the instructor)
• Multi-media display (e.g. computer monitor, projector, or SmartScreen)
• Access to the internet and YouTube

Procedure:

• Have the students observe their food package and identify the location of the nutrition facts label.
• Ask the students to express their opinions on the sugar content of the foods:
  1. Who thinks their food has a (lot of/little) sugar in it?
  2. Tell me what you think about the taste of this food?
• Introduce the short-form video and play for the students.
• Ask the students to identify sources of natural sugar:
  1. What foods have sugar in them naturally?
  2. Why don’t we count the sugar that is naturally in those foods?
• Ask the students to find the amount of added sugar on the nutrition facts label of their food product.
  1. It’s possible some will not have added sugar; in that case, have that student identify total sugar and what ingredients make up the food.
• Allow the children to compare quantities in small groups:
  1. Whose food has the (most/least) sugar in it?
  2. How much sugar do all your foods have combined?
  3. If anyone has a food without added sugar, what is in that food that makes it tasty?
• Have each child write out a goal for reading the nutrition facts label in the next week.
  1. Options to draw a picture and/or read out loud if time allows.

Further enrichment:

Have the students look for a nutrition facts label for a food they enjoy that does not have added sugar. This can be done online during class time or a bring-from-home activity.