Special Education

Teaching Students with Mental Health Disorders:
Resources for Teachers: Volume 1 - Eating Disorders

Food Studies 11 and 12

The Food Studies 11 and 12 curriculum contains learning outcomes organized around the themes of Food Products, Nutritional Issues and Social and Economic Issues. Through activities in these organizers, students develop various skills from planning menus to presenting attractive meals, and increase their knowledge of the nutritional, social, and economic factors that affect food selection and preparation.

Curriculum Organizer	Learning Outcomes	Suggested Instructional Strategies
Food Products (Gr. 11, p.64)	Select food products and meals to meet nutritional and aesthetic standards.	As a class, brainstorm the nutritional significance of eating a variety of foods. Challenge each student to plan and prepare a one-dish meal that uses food from each of the four food groups. Ask students to complete nutritional analyses of their products and to compare them to the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI).
Nutritional Issues (Gr. 11, p. 66)	Analyze daily food intake and compare it to the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI).	Have students record their daily food intake and lifestyle patterns (e.g., sleeping, exercising) and analyze them using Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating, software, and other resources. Challenge students to set nutritional and lifestyle goals, (e.g. fat reduction, increased activity).
Social and Economic Issues (Gr. 11, p.68)	Identify environmental and health issues related to the production and consumption of food.	Show a video about eating disorders. Ask students to research the short and long-term health implications and to share their findings.

Home Economics 8-10

The Home Economics 8-10 curriculum contains learning outcomes organized around the themes of Addressing Needs and Wants, Working with Food Resources, and Nurturing Growth and Development. Through activities in these organizers, students develop an understanding of factors (including economic, sociocultural, political, and technological) that influence needs and wants and the ability to address individual needs and wants in a variety of circumstances. They also develop the disposition to make informed and socially responsible decisions in addressing needs and wants and to implement those decisions.

Curriculum Organizer	Learning Outcomes	Suggested Instructional Strategies
Addressing Needs and Wants (Gr. 9, p. 24)	Propose ways to address challenges that might be faced when meeting needs and wants.	Present case studies of adolescents dealing with issues (e.g., a girl decides to become a vegetarian, a boy wants to wear expensive brand-name clothing, a non-smoker discovers that her son or daughter is smoking). Have students suggest how each situation might affect other family members.
Working With Food Resources (Gr. 8, p.18)	Describe the essential components of a nutritionally adequate diet.	Invite a guest speaker (e.g., an athlete) to talk about nutritional planning for an active lifestyle.
Working With Food Resources (Gr. 9, p.26)	Relate the components of a nutritionally adequate diet to a variety of common eating patterns.	Divide the class into small groups and ask them to research the nutritional strengths and limitations of various eating patterns (e.g., fad diets; diets characteristic of particular cultures, religions, or historic periods). Have students compare the diets researched with their own in terms of nutritional adequacy.
Nurturing Growth and Development (Gr. 8, p.22)	Demonstrate an awareness of how growth and development at each stage of life can be nurtured.	Instruct each student to create a scrapbook entitled “I Am My Own Best Friend” to identify and reflect on self-care activities.

Information Technology 8-12

The Information Technology 8-12 curriculum contains learning outcomes organized around the theme of Presentation. Through activities in this organizer, students are provided opportunities to understand how to communicate ideas effectively using a variety of information media.

Curriculum Organizer	Learning Outcomes	Suggested Instructional Strategies
Presentation (Gr. 8)	Describe the effect of multimedia presentations on intended audiences.	Invite students, working in pairs, to review advertisements from a variety of sources (e.g., the World Wide Web, on-line magazines, television, electronic bulletin boards, a freenet) and analyse the impact of each advertisement on its intended audience.

Physical Education K-10

The Physical Education K-10 curriculum contains learning outcomes organized around the theme of Active Living. Through activities in this organizer, students are provided opportunities to participate in physical activities that promote well-being and a personal functional level of physical fitness.

Curriculum Organizer	Learning Outcomes	Suggested Instructional Strategies
Active Living (Gr. 5, p. 30)	Identify good nutritional habits.	Use the Guide to Healthy Living (Canada Food Guide) to identify the role of food in building a healthy body and supplying energy for physical activity.
Active Living (Gr. 9, p. 30)	Set and evaluate goals to develop personal fitness abilities and maintain a healthy lifestyle.	Have students establish and evaluate personal goals related to fitness, motor abilities, and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, using journals, active health labs, and personal fitness assessments. Have them use computers to graph progress.
Active Living (Gr. 11, p.20)	Evaluate the influence of consumerism and professional athletics on personal perception of body image.	Provide students with various body-image messages presented in mass media (e.g., models, body builders). Ask students to critique and compare them with their own personal and preferred body images.

Science K-10

The Science K-10 curriculum contains learning outcomes organized around the theme of Life Science. Sub-organizers for this component of the curriculum include Body Systems, Reproduction, Growth and Change, and Factors Affecting Body Systems. Through activities in these sub-organizers, students are provided opportunities to extend their understanding of the living world and their place within it.

Curriculum Organizer	Learning Outcomes	Suggested Instructional Strategies
Body Systems, Reproduction, Growth and Change (Gr. 7, p. 94)	Outline factors that influence the length and quality of life.	Students investigate factors such as heredity, diet, medical care, sanitation, environmental conditions, and personal health behaviours, and assess their impact on the length and quality of human life. Students compare and contrast local conditions with those in other countries or cultures.
Factors Affecting Body Systems (Gr. 9)	Infer that diet and lifestyle are critical in helping maintain a healthy body.	Have students investigate diets that cause malnutrition. Each student then constructs a balanced and nutritional diet and presents it in a chart, model, or essay. Other students assess the diet according to the inclusion of the main nutrient groups in appropriate amounts. This could be extended by asking students to bring in articles recommending a popular diet plan and to look at harmful side effects.