Ask Dr Nerenberg | Health and Fitness

Nutrition topics for adults?

I have been asked to do a 30-minute presentation on nutrition or eating well for a group of teachers. I’m used to appealing to students, not adults. What would be a good topic? They probably already know about the food pyramid and how to read labels. I don’t want to talk down to them but also want to make it interesting with a couple of activities. Any ideas?

They may read labels, but be sure to tell them not to believe everything in the ads. Advertisements are there to draw attention, not to inform people so advice these teachers to read the labels properly before buying food products.
Prepare some simple handouts on the food pyramid for them. Sure, most people have some idea of what it looks like, but if they have a copy for themselves they’re more likely to read it properly and start following it.
Have you considered talking about the health effects of different foods and food additives? For example, giving a bit of a primer on why too much salt is unhealthy shouldn’t be seen as talking down, just being informative. As opposed to just telling them to follow instructions like you would do with kids, explain why they should do listen to you. That ought to give a better response.
I’m not sure activities are a good idea – having been to a talk similar to yours lately (I’m a medical student) they tend to be distracting and people often digress. Your audience is a bunch of teachers, so I don’t think giving 30 minutes of attention to you is asking much. You won’t need an activity to break things up.

Feel Great in Eight: Week 2: Weight Loss: Meet Mr. Food Label

Sports Nutrition and Supplements $0.99 12+~~AppWarrior~~NAY MIN THU~~http://itunes.apple.com/app/sports-nutrition-supplements/id402404916?uo=5~~AppWarrior~~1.0~~3131334~~382951~~http://appwarrior.com/~~http://appwarrior.com/contact