|
||||||||||||||
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Main Getting Started Teacher's Guide Student Activities About NIH and NIDDK
 |
 |
This lesson consists of one activity. It begins with a classroom discussion in which students observe data that show the incidence of obesity increasing since 1985 and the risk of several diseases is higher for people with obesity. Then students are given a homework assignment. They write a letter to the person they will be in 25 to 30 years. They use what they have learned about energy balance to give themselves advice about appropriate strategies for maintaining energy balance (and thus a healthy weight) in their adult years.
Obesity is increasing in the United States, leading to increased risk for many diseases. Maintaining the appropriate balance between energy intake and energy output is a lifelong goal. Middle school students should be in positive energy balance (Energyin > Energyout). For adults, Energyin should equal Energyout. Strategies can be developed to aid adults in achieving energy balance.
After completing this activity, students will
See the following sections in Information about Energy Balance:
1 Introduction
3.1 The energy balance equation
3.3 Body mass index (BMI)
3.4 Factors affecting energy intake
3.5 Strategies for achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight (size)
|
Activity |
Web Version
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Yes, only for obesity-trends slides (see Procedure, Step 2) |
|
Activity 1 |
|
|---|
| Activity 1 | none needed (except transparencies) |
|---|
None required.
1. Begin this activity by giving students a simple definition of obesity: being significantly overweight for one’s age, height, and gender due to increased body fat. Then ask students to explain obesity in terms of energy balance.
The National Institutes of Health defines obesity and overweight based on body mass index (BMI) as described in Section 3.3 in the Information about Energy Balance section. The BMI concept is not introduced to the students in this curriculum supplement.
|
2. Display transparency made from Master 5.1, Obesity Trends (or alternative described below). If you have Internet access and a computer-screen projector in your classroom, you can go to the URL http://science.education. nih.gov/supplements/energy/student and click on “Lesson 5—Dear Me.” On the desktop, click on “Obesity Trends Maps” to display a series of maps that depict obesity in the United States every year from 1985 to 2002. (You can also download the maps as a series of Power-Point slides at the URL http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/energy/guide/obesity-slides.ppt. Click on “obesity-slides.ppt” to download the slides for classroom use.) The initial map on screen presents data for 1985. Maps for subsequent years can be viewed in series by clicking the arrowhead just to the right of 2002. This advances the maps one year at a time. Clicking the arrowhead just to the left of 1985 goes back one year at a time. You may also click on individual years to go directly to that data if students need to review a specific year. To view the data in table form, click on “Obesity Trends Table” from the desktop. |
3. Ask students to summarize what the maps reveal about obesity in the United States.
Students will likely say things like “Obesity is increasing” or “We’re getting fatter.” Accept these correct answers. You may want to add that nutritionists describe the trend they observed as an obesity epidemic because of the way obesity is rapidly increasing in the population.
4. Ask students to suggest reasons why doctors and other healthcare professionals are concerned about increasing obesity.
Students will likely identify several answers to this question, including the social stigma against overweight people and the negative impact of obesity on health. Healthcare professionals are concerned about the latter issue, and the rest of the discussion will focus on this.
Tip from the field test: Be sensitive to students’ feelings during this discussion. Overweight students, in particular, will likely be uncomfortable. Emphasize that healthy bodies come in many shapes and sizes. Obesity is a metabolic disease among adults that does not occur quickly. Physicians diagnose it on the basis of height and weight and/or amount of body fat (which can be challenging to determine), not simply by appearance.
5. Confirm that the negative impact of obesity on health is a major concern of healthcare professionals, including those at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Disorders, which sponsored this curriculum supplement. Then display a transparency made from Master 5.2, Increased Risk of Several Diseases with Overweight and Obesity.
This graph shows the increased risk of colon cancer, heart disease, and diabetes among people who are obese and overweight compared with the occurrence of those diseases among adults who are not overweight. Point out that the increased risk of developing diabetes among obese adults is so large that it does not fit on the graph. Discuss the rise in diabetes in overweight children, and point out that complications from diabetes are beginning to occur before they reach adulthood.
6. Ask students to draw conclusions from the graph.
Students should conclude that people are at increased risk of developing the diseases shown on the graph if they become overweight or obese.
7. Using the energy balance equation, ask students to describe what adults in the United States could do to reverse the obesity trend.
They should explain that adults need to reduce Energyin, increase Energyout, or both. Weight loss results when Energyin < Energyout.
8. Continue the discussion by asking students, “What challenges do you think adults face in maintaining energy balance?”
Students may describe challenges such as finding time to exercise and prepare healthy meals, large food portions at restaurants, and genetics.
9. Follow this by asking, “What strategies could adults use to maintain energy balance?”
Students may suggest strategies such as snacking on low-calorie foods, sharing restaurant meals with a friend or taking home extra food for later, or walking to work instead of driving. Because this question and the question in Step 8 have many “right” answers, this is an opportunity for all students to develop their discussion skills.
10. Assign students to use the class discussion as background for writing a four-paragraph letter to their 40-year-old selves that gives advice on maintaining energy balance. Display a transparency made from Master 5.3, Letter to Myself, which gives students the beginning of the first sentence for each paragraph.
Explain that you will collect their letters the next class period and will evaluate them based on their 1) description of an appropriate energy balance, 2) identification of challenges students are likely to face in achieving that balance, 3) strategies for managing calories consumed, and 4) strategies for managing calories used.
| Activity 1: Dear Me | |
|---|---|
| What the Teacher Does | Procedure Reference |
|
Give students a simple definition of obesity and then ask them to explain obesity in terms of energy balance. |
Step 1 |
|
Display transparency of Master 5.1, Obesity Trends. Alternatively, display the series of maps available under Student Activities at the Web site.
|
Steps 2–4 |
|
Confirm that the negative impact of obesity on health is a major concern of healthcare professionals, including those at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Disorders, which sponsored this curriculum supplement. Then
|
Step 5 |
|
Ask students,
|
Steps 6–9 |
|
Assign students to write a four-paragraph letter to their 40-year-old selves that gives advice on maintaining energy balance. Display a transparency of Master 5.3, Letter to Myself, which gives students the beginning of the first sentence of each paragraph. |
Step 10 |
|
|
|
Lesson 5 Organizer
