Power to Prevent - National Diabetes Education Program - National ...

After the discussion, say: “Let’s fll out our Individual Progress Charts. This is the time to award
stickers for achieving goals, making progress, and needing a helping hand.
Give each participant a new Weekly Pledge form and a new GAME PLAN Food and Activity
Tracker.
Discussion Points
Say: “Who knows the difference between a portion and a serving?
Think of a ‘portion’ as the amount of a specifc food that you choose to eat for dinner or a snack or at
any other time. A portion can be bigger or smaller than the recommended food serving.”
Explain that a “serving” is a unit of measure used to describe the amount of food recommended
from each food group. It is the amount of food listed on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged or
canned food or the amount of food recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans created
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.mypyramid.gov/.
If you have plastic or paper food models available, use them to demonstrate serving sizes. Ask
participants to estimate how many servings they typically consume when they eat some of their
favorite foods.
Say: “Eating fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet helps control blood sugar levels if you have
diabetes, and can help you lose weight to prevent or delay diabetes if you are overweight. But many
people don’t eat the vegetables they need!
We’re going to talk about something that will help you get more vegetables into your healthy diet. It’s
called the Plate Method.”
Hand out Appendix T: The Plate Method.
“The Plate Method works by dividing a standard size (9-inch) plate into sections and flling the
sections with particular types of food. You can use the Plate Method as a guide for what and how
much to eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All you need to do is fll your plate so that it matches
the Plate Method picture guide, add a piece of fruit and/or a glass of milk, and you are done. No
piling the food high into a little mountain on the plate, though! The portion of food should ft in a fat
layer (approximately inch high) on the plate.”
Tip: Bring in a plate on which you have already placed food that shows the portions used in the
Plate Method, or use plastic or paper models, if available.
Say: “If you use the Plate Method to get more vegetables into your meals, and if you cut down on the fat
content of the foods you eat, as we’ve discussed in previous sessions, you will have come a long way
toward eating more healthily, controlling your weight, and preventing or managing diabetes.”
NDEP Power to Prevent Session 8 3