Nutrition 101 - A Review

Are you tired of fighting the food battle with your kids? Does it seem that they don't really listen when you try and tell them why some foods are good for them and others aren't? Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is a comprehensive health and nutrition curriculum that can help take that pressure off of you, while helping you teach your children to understand the effects of food on the body for themselves.

Growing Healthy Homes is a site created to educate and train families regarding God's plan to optimum health as outlined in the Bible. Their product line includes family-centered and health-infused books/e-books, as well as educational materials for users of pure therapeutic-grade essential oils.

I was excited to have the opportunity to review Nutrition 101: Choose Life!. This 448-page book (also available on a CD-ROM or as a combo package) teaches about the major body systems; particularly how they function and the effects of food, both nutritional and not.

The twelve main body systems are covered in six units:

Unit 1 - The Brain and Nervous System
Unit 2 - The Digestive System
Unit 3 - The Respiratory, Olfactory, Auditory, and Visual Systems
Unit 4 - The Muscular and Skeletal Systems
Unit 5 - The Cardiovascular and Immune Systems
Unit 6 - The Endocrine System & Emotions

The program is designed to be taught over the course of a year. Each unit consists of four chapters which teach all about how that particular system works. They're engaging with fun facts, colorful images, and vocabulary words. They also include discussion questions, activities, additional resources, and recipes. There's a plan which outlines teaching one chapter per week. In addition, the recipes and an answer guide to the activities follow the six units and there are also 120+ pages in the Appendix, offering charts, tables, and articles to enhance your discussion and activities.

One of the goals of Nutrition 101: Choose Life! is for your child(ren) to learn to take responsibility for his or her own health. Instead of feeling like they have to eat certain foods or can't eat other foods just because their parents say so, they'll learn why those foods help or hurt their bodies, so that they're empowered to make intelligent decision on their own. If you're concerned about having a picky eater, one of the co-authors shares her tactics in the beginning of the book for just such a situation.

The book and CD-ROM are available at the Growing Healthy Homes website. You can read an excerpt from the book here. Just scroll down a little ways to the link.

I would definitely recommend this curriculum for teaching (or supplementing) your children about health and nutrition. It's a well thought out, comprehensive program.

You can also see what other TOS Crew members had to say about Nutrition 101: Choose Life! at the TOS Crew Blog.


Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of Nutrition 101: Choose Life! for review as a member of the TOS Crew. The opinions stated here are my own.