D. Healthy Living · Healthy Living

Using Canada's Food Guide

D2.1 A1.6About 35 minutes

Learning goals

I can use Canada's Food Guide to choose foods and drinks for healthy eating.
I can sort foods into vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods.
I can explain why water is the best drink to choose.
I can name healthy eating habits from the Food Guide, like eating together and reading food labels.

Words to know

Canada's Food Guide
A guide made by Health Canada that shows how to eat well. It shows a healthy plate and gives healthy eating tips.

healthy eating pattern
The way you usually eat, day after day. It is about what you eat most of the time, not just one meal or one snack.

whole grain foods
Foods made with the whole grain, like whole wheat bread, oatmeal and brown rice.

protein foods
Foods like beans, lentils, eggs, fish, chicken, tofu, nuts, milk, yogurt and cheese. They help your body grow and repair itself.

beverage
Another word for a drink.

sugary drink
A drink with a lot of sugar added, like pop, fruit drinks, sports drinks and chocolate milk.

highly processed food
Food that has been changed a lot in a factory and often has a lot of added sugar, salt or fat, like chips, candy, cookies and pop.

Remember from Grade 1

In Grade 1 you learned that food gives your body energy to play and learn, and helps you grow. You learned about the healthy plate in Canada's Food Guide.

This year you will become a food detective. You will use the Food Guide to check meals, choose drinks and spot healthy habits.

Canada's Food Guide plate: half vegetables and fruits, a quarter whole grain foods, a quarter protein foods, and water to drink.

The healthy plate

Look at the plate.

Half the plate is vegetables and fruits.
One quarter (one of four equal parts) is whole grain foods.
One quarter is protein foods.
Beside the plate is a glass of water.

You do not need to eat exactly this way at every meal. The plate shows what a healthy day of eating looks like overall.

A plate that is half vegetables and fruit, one quarter brown rice and one quarter chicken and chickpeas, with a glass of water. — A real meal that matches the healthy plate: half vegetables and fruits, a quarter whole grains, a quarter protein foods, and water to drink. AI-generated image

Food group	Some foods in this group
Vegetables and fruits 🥕🍎	carrots, broccoli, peas, squash, corn, apples, berries, bananas, oranges. Fresh, frozen and canned all count.
Whole grain foods 🍞	whole wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain pasta, barley, quinoa, whole grain crackers
Protein foods 🥚	beans, lentils, chickpeas, eggs, fish, chicken, lean meat, tofu, nuts, seeds, milk, yogurt, cheese

The three kinds of food on the Food Guide plate. Milk, yogurt and cheese are in the protein foods group.

A healthy eating pattern

A pattern is something that happens again and again. Your eating pattern is how you eat most of the time.

One piece of birthday cake does not make your eating unhealthy. A healthy eating pattern means that most days, most of your food comes from the healthy plate.

What should I drink?

The Food Guide says: make water your drink of choice. Water helps your body stay cool, helps you digest food, and keeps you from getting thirsty. It has no added sugar.

White milk with no sugar added, and plant drinks with no sugar added (like some soy drinks), are healthy choices too.

Sugary drinks have lots of added sugar. Pop, fruit drinks, sports drinks and chocolate milk are sugary drinks. Even 100% fruit juice has a lot of sugar, so the Food Guide says to eat the whole fruit instead.

Healthy eating is more than what you eat

Canada's Food Guide also gives tips about how we eat:

Eat meals with others. Talk and enjoy your family's company.
Cook more often. Help a grown-up wash vegetables or stir the pot.
Enjoy your food. Notice the colours, smells and tastes.
Be mindful. Eat slowly and notice when you are hungry and full.
Use food labels. Labels on packages tell us what is in the food.
Limit highly processed foods, like chips, candy, cookies and pop.
Be aware of food marketing. Ads try to make us want things. Ask: "Is this a healthy choice, or does the ad just make it look fun?"

Worked example

Let's check a supper plate

Here is Ava's supper: whole grain spaghetti with tomato sauce and lentils, a big green salad with cucumbers and carrots, and a glass of water. Does it match the Food Guide plate?

Find the vegetables and fruits: the salad, cucumbers, carrots and the tomato sauce. There are lots, so this part could fill about half the plate.
Find the whole grain foods: whole grain spaghetti. ✔
Find the protein foods: lentils. ✔
Find the drink: water. ✔

Yes! Ava's supper has all three food groups and water. It matches the Food Guide plate very well.

Worked example

Let's choose a drink

After a hockey game, Malik is thirsty. He can choose pop, a sports drink, or water from his water bottle. Which drink does the Food Guide say to choose?

Think about sugar. Pop and sports drinks are sugary drinks.
Think about what his body needs. Malik sweated, so his body needs water.
Think about the Food Guide tip: make water your drink of choice.

Malik should choose water. It quenches his thirst with no added sugar.

💧💧💧💧💧💧🥤

Lots of water and only once in a while a sugary drink: a healthy drink pattern.

Just for fun

Why did the banana go to the doctor?

It wasn't peeling well!

Hands-on activity

Kitchen food detective

You need: a grown-up, some foods or empty food boxes from your kitchen, and 3 sheets of paper.

Label the papers Vegetables and fruits, Whole grain foods and Protein foods.
Look in the fridge and cupboard with your grown-up. Choose 10 foods.
Put each food (or its box) on the right paper.
Some foods, like chips or cookies, are highly processed. Make a fourth pile called Once in a while.
Some foods, like pizza or soup, have more than one group mixed together. Talk about which groups are inside!
Last, pour a glass of water and cheer: "Water is my drink of choice!"

Talk: Which group has the most foods in your kitchen? Which group could you add more of?

Your turn

How much of the Food Guide plate is vegetables and fruits?

Name the three kinds of food on the Food Guide plate.

Which drink does the Food Guide say to choose most often?

Sort these foods: oatmeal, an egg, a pear.

What is a healthy eating pattern?

Name two sugary drinks.

Name one healthy eating habit from the Food Guide that is about how we eat, not what we eat.

More practice: warm-up

Is a carrot a vegetable or a protein food?

Is whole wheat bread a whole grain food? Yes or no?

Which group is yogurt in?

True or false: Water has no added sugar.

What drink is shown beside the Food Guide plate?

More practice: on your own

Lunch is a cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread and a glass of water. Which food group is missing? What could you add?

Why does the Food Guide say to eat an orange instead of drinking orange juice?

Ben ate a cupcake at a party. Does that mean Ben has an unhealthy eating pattern? Explain.

A TV ad shows cartoon characters eating a bright blue cereal. What should you think about?

Sort these foods into the three groups: chickpeas, barley, spinach, salmon, blueberries.

Challenge

Plan a breakfast that matches the Food Guide. Name one food from each group and a drink.

A family eats supper together most nights and talks about their day. Which Food Guide tip are they following? Why is it a healthy habit?

Leo says, "Sports drinks are healthy because athletes drink them." Is Leo right? Explain.

Check your understanding

Quiz

How much of the Food Guide plate is protein foods?

Which drink is the Food Guide's drink of choice?

Which food is a whole grain food?

Which group are milk, yogurt and cheese in?

What does healthy eating pattern mean?

Which is a Food Guide tip about how we eat?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The Grade 2 expectation asks students to use Canada's Food Guide to identify food and beverage choices that contribute to healthy eating patterns. This builds on Grade 1, where children learned the healthy plate and hunger and fullness cues.

What to know: The current Food Guide (Health Canada, 2019) shows a plate that is half vegetables and fruits, a quarter whole grain foods and a quarter protein foods (which now include milk, yogurt and cheese, as well as plant-based proteins). Water is the drink of choice. It also offers habits: be mindful of eating habits, cook more often, enjoy food, eat meals with others, use food labels, limit highly processed foods and be aware of food marketing. Families can find it at canada.ca/foodguide.

How to help at home:

Let your child "check the plate" at a meal and name the groups.
Keep a water bottle handy for school, sports and outings.
Look at a food ad together and ask: "What does this ad want us to do?"

A note on language: Avoid calling foods "good" or "bad" or "junk". Talk instead about everyday foods and once-in-a-while foods. Be sensitive to cost, culture and allergies; there are many ways to eat well.

Common difficulties: placing milk and cheese in a "dairy" group (the old guide); thinking 100% juice is the same as fruit; thinking a single treat "ruins" healthy eating.

This lesson also builds the social-emotional skill of critical and creative thinking (A1.6) when children question food ads and make decisions.