HealthFreePrintable

Nutrition Basics Fundamentals

A free health worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Nutrition Basics Fundamentals

Help a community youth café plan a balanced menu. Read the nutrition notes, then use evidence and practical thinking to answer each question. Food needs and access differ between people; avoid judging anyone’s choices. Word bank for the fill-in questions: small, large, essential, optional, necessary, plentiful.

Nutrition field notes

Carbohydrates are a major energy source; whole grains and starchy vegetables can also provide fibre. Protein helps build and repair body tissues. Fats supply energy, help absorb some vitamins, and are part of cell membranes. Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients: the body needs them in relatively small amounts, but they are essential for normal functions. Water is also vital. No single food provides everything the body needs. A balanced eating pattern includes a variety of foods over time. In Aotearoa New Zealand, commonly used food-group guidance includes vegetables and fruit; grain foods; milk and milk products or suitable alternatives; and legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, eggs, poultry and red meat. The best choices depend on a person’s needs, culture, budget, allergies and access. Hauora includes physical, mental and emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing; food can connect with all of these.

Café challenge

Talia is planning a lunch special with kūmara, leafy greens, wholegrain bread, chickpeas and plain yoghurt. Use the notes above. More than one thoughtful menu choice can be suitable.

1.Match each nutrient to its main role. Write the correct letter beside each nutrient: 1. Carbohydrates 2. Protein 3. Fats. Roles: A. Helps build and repair tissues B. Major source of energy C. Helps absorb some vitamins and is part of cell membranes.

Carbohydrates
Protein
Fats

Helps build and repair tissues
Helps absorb some vitamins and is part of cell membranes
Major source of energy

2.Which two items are micronutrients? Choose two.

Vitamin C and iron
Fibre and water
Carbohydrates and protein
Energy and water

3.Complete the sentence using the word bank: small, large. Micronutrients are needed in relatively amounts.

4.Complete the sentence using the word bank: essential, optional. Micronutrients are for normal body functions.

5.Classify each lunch ingredient into the most fitting food group from the notes: kūmara; leafy greens; wholegrain bread; chickpeas; plain yoghurt.

6.The café adds a piece of fruit to the lunch. Give one reason this could add variety to the meal, referring to nutrition rather than saying that one food is “good” or “bad”.

7.A customer cannot eat dairy. Suggest one practical substitution for the yoghurt and one thing they could check when choosing a suitable alternative.

8.True or false: A meal must contain every food group to be nourishing, and the same meal pattern suits everyone.

TrueFalse

9.Explain one way sharing or preparing food with others could support social or spiritual hauora. Give a specific example.

10.Menu redesign: suggest one affordable, accessible addition or swap that could increase variety in Talia’s lunch. Explain what it adds and why your suggestion might suit the café. Answers can vary.