A balanced diet
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the importance of a balanced diet and how it supports overall health and performance.
Key learning points
- A balanced diet includes a variety of foods to provide essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
- No single food item provides all the necessary nutrients, so diversity in food choices is crucial.
- Calorie requirements are dependent on activity levels and the length and intensity of the activity.
- Athletes may need to eat more of a specific nutrient to meet their needs., e.g. weightlifters and protein.
Keywords
Balanced diet - it is defined as eating: the right amount (of calories) for energy expended; according to how much you exercise; different food types to provide suitable nutrients, vitamins and minerals
Carbohydrate - the body's preferred energy source
Protein - essential for the growth and repair of muscle tissue
Energy - the ability to perform activities and sustain effort
Common misconception
There are many misconceptions about diet, such as, the need to cut out carbohydrates or fat because they are seen as responsible for weight gain.
A balanced diet requires all nutrients because each has its own benefits to the body and health. Cutting any of them out completely will negatively impact overall health and performance in sport and physical activity.
Teacher tip
A complementary activity for this lesson is for pupils to input the food they ate the previous day into an online nutrition calculator and reflect on the results.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Starting with the lowest, put these in order of how many calories you would consume if you performed them.
Q2.What is the best way to maintain a healthy weight?
Q3.Match the statements about energy balance to the consequence.
consuming more calories each day than you expend (calorie surplus)
consuming and expending a balanced amount of calories each day
consuming less calories than you expend each day (calorie deficit)
Q4.Which of these do you need in your diet to make sure you have strong teeth?
Q5.Which of these are functions of the body needing a continual supply of energy known as basal metabolic rate (BMR)?
Q6.What nutrient does the body use as its preferred energy source?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the nutrient to its main role.
the main source of energy in both aerobic and anaerobic activities
provides energy in low intensity, long duration activities
used for growth and repair of muscles
Q2.Starting with the highest amount, put these in order according to how much of a general balanced diet should consist of these nutrients.
Q3.Protein should provide approximately what % of our calories each day?
Q4.Match the activity with the approximate calories used per day by performers in that activity.
2000 Kcal
2500 Kcal
3500 Kcal
5000 Kcal
6000 Kcal
Q5.The nutrient used by the body as a secondary source of energy during low intensity activities is .
Q6.Athletes need to increase their protein intake if they incorporate which method of training regularly into their routine?
To help you plan your 11 physical education lesson on: A balanced diet, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 physical education lesson on: A balanced diet, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 physical education lessons from the Health and well-being: diet and nutrition unit, dive into the full secondary physical education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.