Health Quests

Hands-On-Health

You may have heard the expression "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." Health experts are telling us that you can have your cake and eat it, as long as such foods are eaten sparingly and balanced with mealtime selections that satisfy your nutrient needs. Such advice seems welcome, unless your job title is school nutritionist. Imagine that you were in this position. How would you make lunchtime interesting while ensuring that the children--whose health was entrusted to you--get all the vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients their growing bodies need?

	School nutritionists across the country have risen to the challenge of planning lunch menus in which healthful staples are intermixed with varied and exciting choices. See for yourself by examining any or all of the first five Web sites shown under Health Links. Then practice the job of nutritionist by designing a lunch menu for a school in your own community. Begin by clicking on the button that prints out your worksheet. Then visit the last of the Web sites below and download a copy of the U.S. government booklet Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Use the information in the booklet and ideas from the school lunch sites to complete the worksheet.
Print Worksheet
	Health Links
	School Lunch Menus Food and Nutrition Dietary Guidelines for Americans