Let's Do Lunch
As funny as it sounds, eating a nutritious lunch can change your life. Many of us take food for granted, but it acts as an amazing life management tool if used correctly. Studies show that the nutrients found in healthy, balanced meals make us smarter, faster, stronger, and even nicer to be around.

Most of us are familiar with the food pyramid eating plan recommended by the U.S. government, in which most calories should come from complex carbohydrates such as breads and grains, followed by fruits and vegetables. Complex carbos provide energy for your body, especially for your brain, which makes you perform better in school. The pyramid suggests that meat and dairy be eaten in moderation and that sweets and fats be eaten sparingly.

If you examine the eating patterns of most American youth, however, you will see that a different sort of dietary pyramid is in effect. It's not a good one. According to a report by the Dole Food Company, the eating habits of children ages 6 to 12 create an "exploding pyramid," in which fats and sweets dominate the pyramid, and vegetables are neglected.

• Look at the "Exploding Pyramid" of children's eating habits. On a piece of paper, write down everything you ate yesterday. What would your pyramid look like if you sketched it?

• We have located an actual school lunch listing on the Web. Add the numbers in the categories below, analyze the information, and then decide whether this is a healthy lunch or if you should brown bag it the day this meal is served. Keep in mind that an ideal lunch should provide only about 1/3 of your daily requirement for fat, with the other 2/3 coming from breakfast, dinner, and snacks.
  
  
• Brainstorm three ways that you might you improve this lunch.
  
  
• Take a moment to reflect on what you ate for lunch yesterday. Discover how nutritious your lunch was by researching your lunch's nutritional breakdown.

Food Served

% of Daily Value of Fat

% of Daily Value of Carbohydrates

Hot dog

23%

6%

28%

Macaroni & cheese

6%

23%

33%

Bread

6%

16%

22%

Milk

Serving a Portion
Many people may look at the food pyramid with despair. How can they possibly eat the recommended 6 to 11 servings of grains per day without getting fat? The answer is that a "serving" is different than a "portion."

Think of how you usually load up your dinner plate. How big is that piece of chicken? How many vegetables are crammed side by side? A recommended serving is often much smaller than what we dish out for ourselves. One serving of fruits and vegetables can be broken down in several ways: It could mean 1 piece of fruit, 6 ounces of fruit juice, 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables, 1 cup of leafy greens such as lettuce, or 1/4 cup dried fruit. A good rule of thumb is that a serving should be about the size of a deck of cards. All of a sudden, eating six servings of grains per day seems easier.

To get in the habit of serving yourself correct portions, take a weekend to read food labels and make sure you only use the recommended measurements. If your cereal box says a serving of cereal is a 1/2 cup, measure it out and put only that amount in your cereal bowl. After the weekend, you won't need to measure food again. You'll know instinctively what a correct serving is.

This is the second in a series of articles designed to complement NCTM's World Largest Math Event on April 27, 2001. The theme of this year's event is "Mathematics at the Fair." Learn more about the World's Largest Math Event. Read the Riverdeep article, Circus Smirkus.