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Curriculum Introduction:
Target Audience: These
lessons were designed to teach children/youth, specifically 3rd
- 4th graders the importance of calcium in the diet, factors
involved in building strong bones (diet and exercise), which
foods contain calcium, and how to increase the calcium content
of their diet.
Goals: The goals of the
"Got Calcium?" curriculum are to teach children:
- Why calcium is important in the diet.
- How calcium protects the skeleton.
- How to identify foods that are a good or excellent
source of calcium using the Nutrition Facts label.
- The relationship between weight-bearing exercise and
strong bones.
- To taste foods that are a good or excellent source of
calcium.
High-calcium Foods: This
curriculum focuses on teaching children which foods are
naturally high in calcium. It does not incorporate information
on calcium-fortified products.
Additional Information:
During the pilot testing of this curriculum, teachers requested
additional information on lactose intolerance and milk
allergies. Two websites that contain this information are:
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/lactoseintolerance
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/61/67460.
Curriculum Overview:
The National Osteoporosis Foundation summary states, "A
national effort is needed to educate the younger generation so
they can maximize their opportunities to achieve peak bone mass
and, therefore, reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures later
in life."
According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation,
approximately 28 million Americans have osteoporosis but only
14% receive treatment. Half of all U.S. women and 1 in 8 men
will have an osteoporosis-related fracture at some point in
their lives. Also, with the "graying of America," it is
estimated that prevalence of osteoporosis could rise to 41
million by the year 2015. Prevention begins by consuming a
life-long diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.
It is important to understand that bone is not a hard and
lifeless structure. It is a complex living tissue. Our bones,
provide structural support for muscles, protect vital organs,
and store the calcium essential for bone density and strength.
Osteoporosis literally means "porous bone" and is characterized
by low bone mass that develops gradually, often with no warning
signs, until bones become so fragile they break.
Think of your bones as a savings account. There is only as
much bone mass in your account as you deposit. The critical
years for building bone mass are from prior to adolescence to
about age 30. After 30, as part of the ageing process, your
bones begin to break down faster than new bone can be formed.
Children and teens have the best opportunity to build
defenses against osteoporosis, but instead of drinking milk,
they are drinking soda. Kids are consuming twice as much soda as
they are milk. As a result of drinking soda, 9 out of 10 teenage
girls and 7 out of 10 teenage boys are not meeting their dietary
calcium requirements.
The goals of the "Bone Up On Calcium" curriculum include
having children be able to learn:
- why calcium is important in the diet
- how calcium protects your skeleton
- how to make nutritious high calcium snacks
- to identify high calcium foods from reading food labels
- the relation ship between exercise and strong bones
The National Osteoporosis Foundation summary states that " a
national effort is needed to educate the younger generation so
they can maximize their opportunities to achieve peak bone mass
and therefore reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures later in
life. These lessons for youth were designed to teach
children/youth how to increase the calcium content of their
diet.
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