Food Diary Challenge

• Understand the relationship between food, health and wellbeing, including the importance of balanced nutrition.
• Analyse personal eating habits and identify areas for improvement through maintaining a food diary.
• Develop critical thinking skills by evaluating food choices and their nutritional value.

-        Provide each participant with a food diary template or printable worksheet. You can all created together from scratch! Make sure to include: 3 meals and 2 snacks per day, water intake, and any other area you all decide you want to have (Ex. Specific area to record soda intake).

-        Explain to them that they will be tracking their food and beverage intake for one week, give them an example of one of your days.

-        Encourage them to include specific details such as portion sizes, meal times, and any snacks consumed between meals.

-        Emphasise the importance of honest and accurate entries to gain a clear understanding of their eating habits.

-        Provide resources or references on nutrition basics to support participants in identifying healthy food choices (Ex. Nutrition YUNGA badge PDF, YouTube videos that you have previously seen).

-        Facilitate a group discussion to reflect on the experience of maintaining the food diary for the week.

-        Ask participants to share any insights or observations they gained from tracking their eating habits.

-        Guide the conversation towards the concept of balanced nutrition by posing questions such as:

• What did you notice about the variety of foods you consumed during the week?
• Were there any patterns or trends in your eating habits that surprised you?
• How do you think your food choices affect your energy levels and overall well-being?

-        Encourage participants to analyse their food diary entries and identify areas where they could make healthier choices.

-        Discuss strategies for incorporating more nutrient-dense foods into their diet and making sustainable changes for better health.

-        At the end, try to make everyone make a public commitment in front of their peers so they can all help each other make sure they keep their promises.

Make sure to bring props to help explain the concepts.

1.     Detailed food diary template or printable worksheet for each participant

2.     Nutrition resources or references on healthy eating

3.     Pens or pencils for writing