MyPyramid – Physical Activity! Lesson Overview Lesson Participants: School Nutrition Assistants/Technicians, School Nutrition Managers, Child and Adult Care Food Program Staff, Teachers Type of Lesson: Short, face-to-face training session Time Needed to Conduct the Lesson: 15 minutes Lesson Description: This lesson explains physical activity represented in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and MyPyramid Steps to a Healthier You. Participants will learn why being physically active is one key to living a healthier, happier life. MyPyramid provides guidance on the implementation of the recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Nutrition professionals will be able to learn about the many benefits of regular physical activity. MyPyramid is a tool for child nutrition program staff to use when providing nutrition education to children of all ages. Lesson Objectives: At the end of this lesson, the participant will be able to 1. Discuss why daily physical activity is important to living a healthier life. 2. Identify moderate to vigorous physical activities. Get Ready to Train Note: This lesson should be taught following the No Time to Train lessons on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and MyPyramid Steps To A Healthier You. The format for the No Time to Train lessons includes an overview, preparation checklist, lesson at a glance with a timeline for conducting the lesson, references, handouts, and an instructor’s script. The manager/instructor will use the script to present the lesson to the participants. The script gives directions to the manager/instructor—DO, SAY, ASK, LISTEN, AND ACTIVITY—for delivering the lesson. No special audiovisual or electronic equipment is needed to conduct the lesson. The lesson can be presented in the cafeteria, media center, or classroom. Teachers and others in the school or child care setting may wish to participate. This lesson also could be used to integrate nutrition education into the classroom. With some modifications, the lesson could be used with middle and secondary students. No Time To Train - Short Lessons for School Nutrition Assistants MyPyramid – Physical Activity! 1

Preparation Checklist Directions: Use the Preparation Checklist to prepare for the training session. Track your progress by checking off tasks as they are completed. Done

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Lesson Tasks Gather Materials

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Materials Needed: • Instructor’s Script • Handout 1: MyPyramid (one for each participant; accessible at http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/MiniPoster.pdf) • Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (one for each participant) • Pencils (one for each participant) • Session Evaluation form (one for each participant) Prepare for Lesson

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Before the Training: • Make copies of Handouts 1 and 2 (one for each participant). • Make copies of Session Evaluation form (one for each participant).

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On Training Day: • Place pencils on tables (one for each participant). • Distribute Handouts 1 and 2 to each participant.

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On the Instructor’s Table: • Instructor’s Script • Handout 1: MyPyramid • Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity • Session Evaluation forms

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Lesson at a Glance (15 minutes) Time 2 minutes

Topic Introduction and Overview

4 minutes

Objective 1: Discuss why daily physical activity is important to living a healthier life. Objective 2: Identify moderate to vigorous physical activities.

5 minutes

2 minutes

2 minutes

Task Introduce topic and relate it to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and MyPyramid Steps to a Healthier You No Time to Train Lessons. Use Handout 1 to relate the importance of physical activity in a healthy diet.

Materials Instructor’s Script

Use Handouts 1 and 2 to identify some moderate to vigorous physical activities.

Handout1: MyPyramid

Participants will complete the activity and brainstorm ways to become physically active and encourage students to do the same. Wrap Up and Review Instructor encourages participants to ask questions and make comments about what they have learned.

Session Evaluation

Conduct a short evaluation of the lesson.

Handout 1: MyPyramid

Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activities Handout 1: MyPyramid Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activities Session Evaluation form

References: National Food Service Management Institute. (2005). Nutrition 101: A taste of food and fitness. University, MS: Author. U.S. Department of Agriculture (2005, March 13). Inside the pyramid: What is physical activity?. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/physical_activity.html U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (2005). Dietary guidelines for Americans 2005. Available from http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/

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Instructor’s Script SAY: In previous lessons, we learned about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and MyPyramid Steps to a Healthier You. Medical research shows that we all need to learn a personalized approach to healthy eating and physical activity to live a healthier life. Today we are going to review the MyPyramid resources as we continue to learn about physical activity. We are going to discuss why physical activity is important in our daily lives for our well-being and discuss some examples of moderate to vigorous physical activities. DO: Distribute copies of Handout 1: MyPyramid. SAY: From our lesson on MyPyramid, we learned that the food groups are represented in the pyramid by different colors. Physical activity, however, is represented by the figure on the left side of the pyramid. DO: Refer participants to Handout 1: MyPyramid and point to the figure on the left side of the pyramid climbing the steps. On the back of Handout 1: MyPyramid, find and read the section with the same figure of the person climbing (graphic), “Find your balance between food and physical activity.” • • • • •

Be sure to stay within you daily calorie needs. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. About 60 minutes a day of physical activity may be needed to prevent weight gain. For sustaining weight loss, at least 60-90 minutes a day of physical activity may be required. Children and teenagers should be physically active for 60 minutes every day, or most days.

ASK: Why do you think physical activity is an important part of our daily life? LISTEN: Listen to individual responses. SAY: Physical activity is a key element in living a longer, healthier, happier life. It can help relieve stress and provide an overall feeling of well-being. Physical activity can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk for chronic disease. No Time To Train - Short Lessons for School Nutrition Assistants MyPyramid – Physical Activity! 4

Some benefits of physical activity may include the following: • • • • • • • • •

Improved self-esteem and feelings of well-being Increases fitness level Helps build and maintain bones, muscles, and joints Builds endurance and muscle strength Enhances flexibility and posture Helps manage weight Lowers risk of heart disease, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes Helps control blood pressure Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety

DO: Distribute Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activities. On your handout, you’ll see that the physical activity may be classified as moderate or vigorous. It is important to remember that for optimal health benefits, physical activity should be moderate or vigorous and add up to at least 30 minutes each day. Some physical activities are not intense enough to help you meet the common recommendations. Although you are moving, some activities do not increase your heart rate, so you should not count those towards the 30 or more minutes a day that you should strive for. Such activities include walking at a casual pace, such as grocery shopping, and doing light household chores. ASK AND SAY TOGETHER: What are some examples of moderate to vigorous physical activity? Take a few minutes to complete the activity on Handout 2 and think about what kinds of physical activities we or our customers should be participating in for optimal health benefits. How can we participate and encourage customers (students, teachers, staff) to be more physically active? ACTIVITY: Participants will complete Handout 2 and brainstorm what physical activities could be added? How can we participate to be more physically active for optimal health benefits? How can we encourage students, teachers, and staff to choose to be more physically active? Some suggestions could be to • walk briskly (3 ½ miles per hour), • play a game outside instead of watching television or playing video games, • encourage students to participate in organized sports, • ride a bicycle, • take weight training, • go dancing, or • do gardening/yard work.

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SAY: Thank you for all of these great ideas! I’ll schedule some time for us to make a plan to implement some of these ideas. Today we have talked about the importance of physical activity. Physical activity provides essential energy that we need to live more healthy lives. Physical activity and nutrition work together to achieve better health. Being active increases the amount of calories burned. As people age their metabolism slows, so maintaining energy balance requires moving more and eating less. It is important for adults and students to be more physically active.

ASK: Do you have any questions about physical activity from MyPyramid? LISTEN: Listen to individual responses. DO: Answer questions to the best of your ability. If there are questions you can’t answer, tell the participants you will find out the answer and let them know later. If you need assistance in finding answers, please call the National Food Service Management Institute at 800-321-3054. Distribute the Session Evaluation form. SAY: Thank you for participating in the lesson today. Please take a couple of minutes to complete the Session Evaluation form. Thank you for your input.

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Handout 1: MyPyramid

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Handout 1: MyPyramid (Continued)

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Handout 2: Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity Are there any more activities that would be classified as moderate or vigorous that you can think of? How can you be more physically active? How can you encourage customers to be more physically active? Moderate Physical Activities Walking briskly (about 3.5 miles per hour) Hiking Gardening/yard work Dancing Golf (walking and carrying clubs) Bicycling (less than 10 miles per hour) Weight training (general light workout)

Vigorous Physical Activities Running/jogging (5 miles per hour) Bicycling (more than 10 miles per hour) Swimming (freestyle laps) Aerobics Walking very fast (4.5 miles per hour) Heavy yard work Weight lifting Basketball

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (2005, March 13). Inside the pyramid: What is physical activity? Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/physical_activity.html

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