To eat or not to eat?

Nov. 10th Teaching high school girls about nutrition. What an opportunity! The AAWs mentor program wanted to educate the high school girls about healthy eating habits. There were 5 young ladies who attended the class.  These young ladies are intelligent college bound students who come from poor households. High school girls who have body image, peer pressure, fast food eating habits, and limited resources available for healthy meal influences...a challenge to say the least! 

My teaching intent was to provide an array of materials for teaching healthy affordable eating options and exercise, not dieting. My plan was to engage the young ladies in a discussion about healthy meal and snack choices by reading the labels of some of their favorite snacks and talk about the importance of physical activity. I had planned to use "choosemyplate.gov" website for healthy eating and one YouTube video on stress management.

I arrived on the CSU, Stanislaus Stockton campus with my power point on a USB drive ready to talk about healthy affordable eating practice and physical activity for stress management and weight control. Well, the classroom did not have a projector. No power point, website, or YouTube video for this teacher. I had a white board, my teaching outline, some affordable healthy snack recipes, and pictures of 5min. stretch exercises to use as visual aids. I ran out to the local convenience store and bought a bag of Doritos, 1 can of Coke, a Cup of Noodles, a bag of trail mix, a Special K snack bar, and my favorite, Kitkat candy bar.

We used the items purchased to practice label reading . The girls really liked this activity and stated that they learned a lot about the lack of nutritional value in their favorite snacks. We talked about the importance of eating breakfast, choosing healthy fast food options, and the "new healthy choices guidelines" using the plate for food serving choices. I had them share three goals that they would focus on right now and what step they would take to reach them. Everyone participated and it was great!
One of the AAW members frequently interrupted me and preached to these young ladies about portion size, avoiding meat, and their weight! Well, my challenge became to refrain from asking the member to please not preach, but to focus on healthy eating habits. I reiterated the importance of eating a variety of healthy foods, developing an exercise routine, and eating breakfast to jump start their day. Additionally, I included the importance of eating regularly and not to focus on portion size, but healthy foods. We talked about eating when hungry and avoiding eating when stressed. I encouraged them to try an activity other than eating such as deep breathing exercises and meditation when stressed.
 I learned that the topic of diet in this population of teens should be approached delicately. As a health care professional, my opinion is considered seriously. Today's young ladies have an enormous challenge to maintain their physical and mental health! The chances of developing diabetes, bulimia, or anorexia is very real. It is my responsibility to ensure that a balance exists in any topic of nursing education. My topic outline did not include addressing potential problems that might arise from dieting, anorexia and bulemia. I encouraged them to develop healthy affordable eating habits, offered physical activity options, and discussed positive body image as the core of discussion while addressing this population of individuals. This opportunity to teach did not go as planned.  However, I feel that I fulfilled my obligation to provide updated responsible information to this population of high school girls.