The study of foods and nutrients and their effect on health, growth and development of the individual.
I don't claim to be an expert on Thai diet, however, with the fast-food, eat-on-the-street culture that is abound here, there are definitely things I've eaten that are more junk food than nutritious food.
The easy thing about eating in Canada is that the Food Guide is there for the health conscious to easily pick up and apply. Here in Thailand, that is a lot more challenging.
There is an abundance of fast food here. Walk down the soi (street) and one will find an endless amount of eateries that serve rice and pad thai and barbecued meat balls. How does one measure the serving size and calories for these foods? What is the Thais' standard guide to eating?
In grade five, Cluster 1: Maintaining A Healthy Body, one of the STSE learning outcomes states:
5-1-04 Evaluate a daily menu plan and suggest changes to make it align more to closely to Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
Obviously, there are different food, so this learning outcome has to be modified. Thailand has rice where Canada has bread and potatoes. There is more seafood, and there is more spice involved. And there are foods that don't exactly belong in any food group (coagulated pork blood, anyone?). But how do we modify the learning outcome, if the standard guide to eating appears not to be present?
This can be a very interesting topic to delve into, and students can learn alot about the differences in Thai and Canadian diets, how food guides are formed, how they are used, and how to make correct food choices, along with evaluating diets. It can easily be tied cross-curricularly with social studies, as well.
"The belly rules the mind."
- Spanish proverb
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