Fat Facts
Objectives
* To increase students' understanding of dietary fat.
* To inform students about types of fat.
* To help students read and understand nutrition labels.
Presenting the Activity
Distribute copies of the activity sheet to students. Read the information with students, helping them to understand the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats. You may need to remind students that cholesterol is a fatty substance found in animal tissues. The human body produces cholesterol, but it also enters the body through the foods we eat. Some cholesterol is needed for human health. It makes up a part of the membranes of each cell in the body. It also is used in performing some bodily functions such as producing vitamin D and certain hormones. However, people whose cholesterol levels are high have an increased risk of heart attack. This condition most commonly occurs in people whose diets are high in cholesterol or in saturated fats.
Tell students that checking nutrition labels can help them know what kinds of fat they are consuming and how much. All packaged foods have nutrition labels and information for unlabeled foods such as fruits and vegetables often can be found in the produce section.
Answers
1. 25 calories
2. 2 grams
3. Monounsaturated
4. Yes, it is low in calories, low in fat and even has the 'good' kind of fat.
Follow-up Activities
1. Explain to students that often people who want to lose weight turn to the many fat-free products on the market. Consumers often mistakenly believe that fat-free means 'eat as much as you want.' Unfortunately this is not true. When manufacturers take out fat they often substitute more sugar to increase flavor. Therefore some fat-free products are higher in calories than their regular fat counterparts. Assign students to investigate fat-free products at the supermarket, checking for calories. They can report their findings to the class.
2. Have students meet with their groups again with the snack nutrition labels they brought to school. The group can read the labels for fat content and compare notes.
