History of Nutrition Poster - Classroom Poster - Nutrition Month Poster

The World Health Organization says, "Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Good nutrition – an adequate, well-balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity."

As a teacher, nutrition or health professional you realize that most consumers are confused, misinformed and distracted by the ads and partial claims of the food industry, the media and movie stars who write books. They don't really understand nutrition and they have little time to implement the simple steps to a healthy lifestyle. By explaining the history and science behind nutrition, folks can understand how to eat a healthy diet and which entities, like MyPlate and the Dietary Guidelines, are the ones to listen to!

Learning Objectives and Benefits:

• This poster shows how the science of nutrition evolved in the modern era after the industrial revolution.
• Vitamins were discovered in the early 1900s
• The fortification of food was started and stopped by 1940
• The USDA came up with the idea of food groups to ensure adequacy of essential nutrient intake
• We started with the pyramid and are now using MyPlate
• The Dietary Guidelines are mandated by law every 5 years
• The Nutrition Facts Panel has been updated by the FDA
• Major health-changing studies are noted
• Nutrition is nourishment from nutrient-dense foods. Eat mindfully with these choices and you will have enough fiber, vitamins and minerals in the calories allotted.
• A healthy diet is not a low-carb meal, an expensive drink, a pill or gluten free food (unless you have a celiac disorder or wheat allergy).
• It really is this easy and here is an example of healthy food.
• This poster illustrates how we went from the discovery of vitamins and other nutrients to concern about excesses from highly processed foods in Westernized nations that make us far sicker than any worry of vitamin inadequacy!

Features:

• 18" x 24" laminated poster in English
• Savvy piece of history, science, and nutrition education art for your office, classroom, bulletin board, health fair, wellness program, or cafeteria.
• The Nutrition History Poster also makes a great classroom poster plus it can be used as a school cafeteria poster.
• It has excellent talking points for one class or a series of class
• Critical thinking is promoted and health literacy is emphasized with all of the peer-reviewed journal analysis included in the history like the Framingham study and the start of microbiome studies

Target population: In English, for general audiences, ages 8 - 100

Discussion, activities, and talking points:

• The first half of the 20^th century was pretty much dedicated to the discovery and study of micronutrients, with vitamin B1 (thiamine) being the first discovered in 1910, iodine added to salt in 1924, vitamin D added to milk in 1933, and flour enriched with vitamins and minerals in the 1940s. By 1950, all the vitamins had been discovered.
• Introduced in 1911, Crisco was the first manufactured food product to contain trans fat. It wasn’t until 2015 that the U.S. government determined that trans fat is unsafe.
• The Clean Plate Club wasn’t something invented by nagging parents! It was an actual government campaign to get citizens to not waste food during World War II.
• MyPlate, which launched in 2011, has plenty of predecessors: the Basic Four in the 60s and 70s, the Food Wheel in 1984, the Food Guide Pyramid in 1992, and MyPyramid in 2005.
• The Dietary Guidelines are revisited every 5 years when a committee of professors and scientists goes over all the most recent scientific studies to make sure the recommendations are precise, relevant, and up to date. This is mandated by Congress.
• The history of overweight and obesity is included because this is the most significant health issue of our times. Use of the computer along with super processed, calorie-dense foods, and less time for physical activity has caused this health problem in our times. 
• The Framingham study was and is a landmark study that correlates dietary patterns with heart disease and many chronic diseases. This was followed by the DASH study which connects diet and blood pressure. 

See the matching History of Nutrition PowerPoint and handout set