Outreach Ministries: Nutrition Classes

People everywhere are trying to stay in shape. Many Gyms and Clinics have a licensed nutritionist on staff to offer advice to members on their body’s needs and healthy eating habits. These professionals are able to create customized eating regimens for their clients via years of specialized training. However, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars and years in school to offer general good advice about nutrition.

If you can afford to hire a licensed nutritionist, or are lucky enough to have one as a church member, fantastic. If not, there is more than enough information available through books, videos, magazines, and the Internet for a layperson to create a basic lesson plan. Some ideas for topics are:

• Calories- what they are, the average daily requirement for men and women, and how to lose them.
• Carbohydrates- Good carbs vs. empty carbs. The pros and cons of a low carb diet.
• Fat- Regular vs. Saturated fats, “healthy” fats, and low fat alternatives
• Protein- daily requirements of men and women. High protein vs. High fat
• The Good Stuff: Calcium, Iron, and Vitamins- the importance of each in a balanced diet, needs of women vs. men. Available sources of each.
• Special Diets- Look into the specialized needs of children, athletes, pregnant women, and senior citizens. You could also cover restricted diets, such as vegetarianism, lactose intolerance, and diabetes.

Visit your local campus bookstores. Each semester, they are forced to get rid of perfectly good textbooks because the version is outdated. You could potentially find great source material for free! A nice conclusion to your course would be to hand out a compiled list of healthy recipes for your students to try. Perhaps you could even cook some yourself and bring them into class as samples. If your looking for more health related ideas, please visit our sections on running a Health Fair, and teaching cooking classes.

Helpful Links

National Agricultural Library- Food and Nutrition Information Center

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