Nutrition and Bone Health: Nutrition Education for Youth

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: Fifth graders wil1 be able to select appropriate foods to maximize bone mass. Nutrition and Bone Health is the topic of a nutrition education curriculum for fifth graders based on a collaborative project funded by NASA through the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. The multi-disciplinary undertaking has many facets. It began with a group of Arkansas educators touring NASA's Johnson Space Center; the group was composed of university nutrition faculty, state department of education staff, secondary biology and home economics teachers, and an elementary teacher. Increased awareness of the impact of space travel on today's society was a major outgrowth of the tour, with the importance of nutrition and nutrition research emphasized. The premise that travel in space, or the experience of microgravity, results in bone loss in astronauts and the continual search for appropriate foods to decrease this bone loss provided a springboard for the nutrition and bone health education project. Fifth graders were selected for the curriculum project because they are progressing toward middle school where more freedom of choice is allowed in school lunch and soft drinks as well as fast foods are realistic meal options. The purpose of the project is to teach appropriate dietary choices which maximize bone mass. As a part of the curriculum, slides of NASA and astronauts are viewed along with slides of rats involved in a nutrition research project utilizing the hind limb suspension method, as well as illustrations of bone loss associated with aging. The students have a tasting party, using appropriate foods, and are given a take-home activity packet on nutrition and bone health. The multi-disciplinary project has had many phases. The nutrition curriculum has been enhanced at the elementary, secondary, and university levels in Arkansas. The major benefits of the project include working with a variety of health care specialists as well as educators in teaching nutrition.