Eat Right, Stay Healthy (Brownie Try-it)

Please add ways to customize the Eat Right, Stay Healthy Try-it activities here, and include useful resources below.

As with all legacy Brownie Try-its, scouts need to complete 4 activities to earn the badge.

Activity #1 The Foods We Eat
Food labels list ingredients starting with the largest amount down to the smallest amounts. They also show how much of each nutrient (such as minerals and vitamins) is in each food serving. Calcium, which helps your bones grow strong, is an example of a mineral. Vitamin C, found in orange juice, is an example of a vitamin.

Look at lists of ingredients from cereal cartons, cake-mix boxes, and canned and frozen foods. Many times, sugar or salt is added to food as flavoring. Sugar is sometimes called corn syrup, sucrose, glucose, or fructose.

Compare three labels and decide which food is the best for you When deciding what is a healthy food, check the food pyramid on page 48 in your handbook.

Activity #2 Smart Shopper
Help your family make up a grocery list. Write down foods that your family likes to eat during the week. Look at the list with the person who does the food shopping in your home. Go with her or him to the grocery store to help choose good foods. Then plan at least one meal using what you have learned from the food pyramid.

Activity #3 Dairy Foods
Many kinds of foods use milk as an ingredient, such as yogurt, butter, and ice cream. Can you think of others? Share several of these foods with family and friends for a taste test. Which one is your favorite? Try making some new flavors of yogurt. Get some plain, low-fat, or no-fat yogurt. Then, set out small bowls of different toppings: crunchy cereal, strawberries, bananas, peanut butter, blueberries, apple slices, nuts, honey, and other fruits. Have fun eating your unique dessert.

Some people are allergic to dairy foods. Maybe you are. Find out what kinds of substitutes can be used.

Activity #4 Food People
It is important to remember that “you are what you eat.” Think about the foods you eat every day, using pictures of the healthy foods that are part of your diet.

You will need: Construction paper Pencil Scissors Glue Crayons or markers</li></ul> On construction paper, draw pictures or paste ones from magazines of the foods you eat. Cut out the pictures, removing the unused paper.</li> Use the food shapes to create a person by gluing the cutouts of the food on a blank sheet of paper making the shape of a person.</li> Share your food people with your friends.</li></ol>

Activity #5 Balancing Act
It is important to eat a well-balanced diet. You need to have at least 6 servings of grain, 3 servings of fruit, 4 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of protein, 3 servings of dairy, and very little fat and sugars.

Make a mobile representing the amount of different types of food you are supposed to eat every day.

You will need: <ul>2 metal hangers</li> Construction paper</li> Crayons or markers</li> Tape</li> Yarn or string</li> Pencil</li> Glue</li></ul> On construction paper draw pictures (or use ones you cut out from magazines) of different foods that you eat based on the requirements found in the food pyramid.</li> Tape two hangers together at the top. Wrap yarn or string around the hangers until they are covered. Knot the end strings.</li> Use glue or tape to attach a string to each picture.</li> Tie the other end of the string to the covered hangers.</li> <li>Hang your food pyramid mobile in a place where it will remind you each day about eating healthy foods.</li></ol>