January Activity – NUTRITION DETECTIVES - The ACTiZENS' Club Programme by Desh Apnayen

INTRODUCTION

Festivals are time of immense joy which are incomplete without good traditional food. Relishing traditional delicacies and devouring desserts of the season with friends and family is what makes festivals so special. But for many, there is always this thought at the back of mind that how much should we eat without hampering our diet or how much to exercise after eating so many sweets. Some people even go to an extent of avoiding all festive foods, fearing weight gain or unhealthy eating. In Science we have discussed at length about balanced diet and how eating it helps to stay healthy. A balanced diet is one which contains all the essential nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins, and vitamins. Even during festival time, if we follow a balanced diet, we can enjoy the food and festival to its full glory.

In this activity, we will analyse food recipes eaten during our festival time to understand its nutritional contents, how should we preserve traditional cuisines for our future generations and how as an Actizen we can spread awareness about taking informed food-based decisions to others.

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to identify the nutritional benefits of the traditional food recipes of their state/Country.
Students will be able to recognize ways to spread awareness about nutritional benefits of traditional food recipe to others.

OUTCOMES

Students will be able to describe ways to identify nutritional benefits of traditional food recipes.
Students will be able to articulate how to spread awareness about nutritional benefits of traditional food recipe to others.

SKILLS AND VALUES

Skills - Communication, Collaboration, and creativity

Values – Diversity

SESSIONS’ OVERVIEW

S. No.

Session Details

Estimated Time Required

Step 1: Introduction

Step 2: Group Activity

45 Minutes

Step 2: Presentation

Step 4: Debrief of Activity

45 Minutes

MATERIAL REQUIRED

Papers, pens, any available craft materials (optional)

STEPS OF THE ACTIVITY

Session 1: For a 45 min session Step 1-2

Step 1 – Introduction

Time: 8-10 minutes

1. Ask students to think about the food item they have eaten in past 2-3 days.

2. Ask them to say the name of item and what nutrient the food is known for. (For Eg, Milk has protein, etc.)

3. Teacher can draw a table and list the items to the nutrient group as shown below. (Limit to 5-6 responses, more items are given only for reference purpose)

Carbohydrate Rich Food Item	Protein Rich Food Item	Fat Rich Food Item	Vitamins Rich Food Item	Minerals Rich Food Item
Maize	Dal	Butter	Fruits	Salt
Rice	Fish	Oil	Green Leafy Vegetables	Vegetables
Sweet Potato	Egg		Meat	Fruits
Bread	Cottage Cheese			Meat
	Milk

Note: List of Food items in each Nutrient source is given in Annexure 2 for reference purpose.

4. Ask students the following questions:

a. Which nutrient should we eat the most?
b. Why should we eat balanced diet?
c. Which food items do you like to eat during the festival time?

5. Take 2-3 responses and start the class with a brief introduction about the activity using introduction section.

Step 2 – Main activity

Estimated Time: 30 mins.

1. Divide the students into 4-6 groups to begin the activity ensuring 6-8 participants in each group.

2. Tell the students that in groups we will think about the festivals we celebrate. Then, select one food recipe, be it sweet or savory, that is cooked during any festival as per the group’s collective decision.

3. Encourage the group to select a common food dish that is cooked in every one’s household. If group is not able to identify a common recipe, they can have subgroups working on two dishes (recipe)

4. Tell them we will create a Recipe Booklet in our groups. Ask the group to discuss the following points in their groups to create this booklet:

i. For the given recipe, discuss in groups and list down all the ingredients. Then analyze the nutritional value of the recipe by dividing the ingredients into nutrient groups. Analyze which sources of nutrients are high in this dish. What other food items should you eat to consume a balanced diet with this dish?

Example:

Roti

Ingredients – Flour, Salt, Oil and Water

Carbohydrate	Fat	Protein	Vitamins	Mineral
Flour	Oil	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Salt

Along with roti, vegetables/eggs/meat should be consumed to get proteins and vitamins.

ii. List festivals or occasions when this dish is made. If there is any interesting story associated with the recipe, you can mention that.

iii. How can you spread awareness to others about its nutritional benefits to help them make informed food-based decisions too?

iv. What should be done to preserve this dish so that future generations also experience it? (One way is to document the recipe for future use.) As homework, each one will find out from their parents/grandparents how is this dish cooked in the family, write it down neatly on piece of paper to stick in the Recipe booklet.

[Note: Students can also compare the recipes for similarities & differences, healthy alternatives, etc. (optional)]

5. Tell them they have to prepare a small Recipe booklet (5-8 pages) on the Recipe covering all these above four points. They can use drawing sheets/available papers to make the booklet & tie it with string/ribbon or staple it.

6. Tell them to discuss the information they will cover in the Recipe booklet, how they will present it, the flow of information, and what supporting pictures or material they will need.

Note: Recipe Booklet Guideline is available in Annexure 1 with list of points to cover in the recipe booklet.

Homework:

Teacher would ask students to refine their Recipe booklets by researching more facts, add recipes handwritten by each group member, decorate the booklet and bring in the next session.

They can use photos, articles, and newspaper cuttings to make their recipe booklet more attractive. It can be decorated by drawing borders, using available materials following the best out of waste approach.

Note: Please pre-inform the date of the next session for students to bring completed booklet.

Session 2: For a 45 min session Step 3-4

Recap: (5 min)

The teacher asks students to share about how they engaged as a group to refine the Recipe booklet to help set context for the session.

Step 3 – Group Presentation

Estimated Time: 30 mins.

1. Teacher will invite the groups one by one to present the Recipe booklets prepared to the class.

2. Inform the students that each group will get 5-7 mins to present. Inform that group presentation should cover the following points:

a. Recipe, Details about the Festival
b. Why did the group select the recipe & what process they followed? (Was there agreement from start, if not - then how did they reach agreement, etc)
c. Nutritional Value of the Recipe & other food items to eat to ensure a balanced diet with this dish.

Note: Students will not present the Recipes individually. If they have observed any similarity or alternative, then they can share that point.

3. Other Students can ask questions to the presenting group on the food booklet after the presentation is completed by the group.

4. Teacher will then summarize the discussion with help of debrief questions.

Step 4 – Debrief

Time: 10 minutes

Ask students the following questions to debrief the activity - to share the following:

How was your experience of analysing the nutritional facts of the recipe?
What did you learn from the activity? Which are the other food recipes you enjoy during festivities?
How can you ensure & spread awareness about eating balanced diet during festival time?

Reflection Sheets, Activity Report & Feedback Form

Teachers kindly fill in the feedback form, remind office bearers to fill activity report and remind students also to fill up the reflection sheets.