Running head: CHOOSE MY PLATE

Choose My Plate
Jessica Vasquez
Instructor: Vance Miller
Arizona State University: PPE 310
September 12, 2015

CHOOSE MY PLATE

2
Introduction

Choose My Plate is a great way to see exactly what you are eating and what you can change
about your eating habits. It is so easy to use with specific places to enter your food journal. It
provides the calorie amount and based off your age and gender, tells you where you should be
with each category. It allows you to see just how much you are eating and if you are meeting the
daily requirements based off your age and health. Choose My Plate can really help students
understand why it is important to know what we eat.
Summary
The requirement for the National Standards for School Meals was to provide or offer fruits and
vegetables as separate parts of the students meals. They are also required to offer fruit at both
breakfast and lunch everyday as well as offer vegetables everyday at lunch with hopes of
including subgroups of vegetables weekly such as oranges and dark greens to name a few
(Federal Register: Department of Agriculture, 2012). Based off the results using the Foodtracker
(Choose My Plate, n.d.) tool, the student is meeting some of those requirements. The students
are receiving fruits and vegetables during both breakfast and lunch. They have the option of
either getting the daily special or daily combo, which has more alternative choices to a healthier
side. At Mesa High School, they do have the free-reduced policy. In order for Mesa High to
have a free-reduced policy they add in guidelines to promote health for students and help reduce
childhood obesity. They also promote student wellness by including goals for physical activity
and nutrition as well as other school-based activities (USDA, 2015).

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans to reduce are food components like sodium, saturated fat,
solid fats, added sugars, and fatty oils. Americans, according to the guidelines, are to keep the

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sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams as well as eating less than 10 percent of calories
from the saturated fatty acids. Americans should also limit their fatty oils and reduce the intake
from the added sugars and solid fat calories (U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Students who are consuming this breakfast
and lunch have already exceeded their sodium intake as well as consumed a majority of the
saturated fats. The student has a limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium and the student has already
consumed 2,404 milligrams of sodium. For the saturated fats, they are limited to 29 grams and
the student has already consumed 15 grams between breakfast and lunch (See image below).

The changes to improve the students nutritional intake would include more awareness of the
foods. One example would include having a wellness week, where the students learn about
nutrition and more about Choose My Plate. They could create their own plates foods they
currently eat and describe what they are missing and how they can improve what they eat.
Another example would be to create a day out of the week and dedicate it to good eating. This
would include only foods that meet the requirements of the standards for school lunch meals. If
the day becomes a success, students can suggest what other types of foods to include, as long as
they are part of the required foods. This can allow students to see what is part of the
requirements and think of foods that can work for them to eat. The last example can work, even
if there couldnt be a wellness week. Students can eat the food already on their lunch menu but
the menu can also include plenty of alternatives to substitute. The alternatives can include plenty
of fruits and vegetables as well as more choices that have a healthier side for any student who
might want to work on their eating habits.
Reflection

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As a teacher, especially a Physical Education teacher, I find this to be something worth knowing
about. It's easy to talk about health and fitness, but when they are not sure of how food plays a
role in that, it defeats the purpose. A program like Choose My Plate is interesting and provides
plenty of information that can help the students understand. It provides them information of how
they can track their food and follow what each item of food falls under. They can really get the
information when learning about nutrition and why food is important to know about when they
are learning about their health.

For this activity I would include this in my nutrition lesson. I would bring this up after
introducing the lesson. I would first go over the basics of nutrition and then go deeper into each
category so the students get some knowledge of what each category contains. Once they get
quizzed on the lesson, I will have one of their projects include the Choose My Plate program.
The students, for a week, will use this site as a source for them to record what they are eating
throughout the day and track what they have been eating. I won't take points away from them if
they are eating poorly, instead, I want them to get an idea of what they are consuming everyday.
If the students are honest and accountable, they might see what they are eating and decide to
change their ways. I would also wrap this lesson up by having them reflect what their food
intake consisted of as they tracked their food. I would want them, to again, be honest and really
reflect on what they noticed about their eating habits. I would also want the students to see if
they were meeting the required standards for each category. This could be a challenge for the
students at Mesa High School because of the easy access to fast food establishments. They are
located in an area where fast food places like Burger King, Carl's Jr, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and
KFC are either in walking distance or less than a mile if you were to drive. Its convenient for

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students because they have ways of getting to one of these fast food choices.

This data that they collect could help them out in the long run. For one, they can pay attention to
what they are eating everyday and see what is following the standards as well as what isn't. They
can also learn about portions and how much food they are suppose to consume by following the
measurements when they track their food. The students can learn about the breakfast and lunch
menus and notice if they are providing any healthy items or if they are missing certain foods.
One thing that is nice about this program is they can learn about alternatives and what they can
eat instead to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle. This lesson can help them decide if they
want to start a healthy lifestyle or if they would rather be a statistic. The data is easy to navigate
and learn that I would hope the students learn and want to change their behaviors of eating.
Results

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References
Choose My Plate. (n.d.). SuperTracker & Other Tools | Choose MyPlate. Retrieved from
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-other-tools
Federal Register: Department of Agriculture. (2012). Nutrition Standards in the National
School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; Final Rule (Vol. 77 No. 17). Retrieved
from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf
USDA. (2015, September). Local School Wellness Policy Requirements | Food and Nutrition
Service. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/local-school-wellness-policyrequirements
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office, December 2010.
2Criteria
Introduction
SCORE:x1
ChooseMyPlate
Analysis
SCORE: x1

Points (4) Exemplary

Application of
results and proposed
changes
SCORE:x1

Points (2) Proficient

Introduction was well organized

and created a plan for the paper
One breakfast and one lunch (or 2
restaurant options) were
evaluated
Results reflect a hypothetical
student
Screen shot was included

Applied detailed application of

National Standards for School
Meals
Contains very detailed
applications of Dietary
Guidelines for Americans
Contains very detailed
discussions for 3 changes to
improve nutrition

Introduction was somewhat organized

and created a plan for the paper
Only one breakfast or lunch (or 1
restaurant option) was evaluated
Results reflected a hypothetical
student, but not enough information
was provided
Screen shot was included, but
incomplete
Contained a somewhat detailed
application of NSSM
Contained somewhat detailed
applications of Dietary Guidelines for
Americans
Contains somewhat detailed
discussions only 2 changes to improve
nutrition

CHOOSE MY PLATE
Summary/Reflectio
n SCORE: x1

Writing and
Reference Style
SCORE: x1

A summary of the current state of

the schools nutrition was
included
Summary of changes were
included
A detailed reflection regarding
how this teacher knowledge of
students impacts your students
inside and outside your classroom
Proper grammar and punctuation
is used throughout the proposal
All sentences are clear &
developed
Paper was at least 3 pages with
standard margins, font, & text
size
APA style referencing used
throughout paper and references
The file document name
contains
Lastname.firstname.assign#.cours
e#
This rubric was attached correctly
Posted to your E-Portfolio
correctly

A summary of the current state of the

school in terms of nutrition was
included
but did not align with paper
A summary of the proposed changes
was included but did not align with
paper
A general reflection of how this data
impacts your students
Most grammar and correct
punctuation is used throughout the
proposal
Most sentences are clear & developed
Paper was 1-3 pages with standard
margins, font, and size of text

APA style referencing mostly used

throughout the paper and references
The file name somewhat contains the
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.cour
se#
This rubric was added but not at the
end
Posted to your E-Portfolio, but
incorrectly