How Our Bodies Use Fats from Food
Students use a simple food-and-energy model to learn that lipids, or fats, come from foods and can be used for energy or stored by the body for later.
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What Are Lipids?
Lipids are nutrients often called fats. They are found in foods from plants and animals. Avocados, nuts, seeds, cooking oils, cheese, eggs, and fish contain fat. Our bodies need food to live, grow, move, and stay healthy. Fat can give the body energy. It also helps protect organs and helps the body use certain vitamins. Different foods contain different amounts and kinds of fat. A spoonful of peanut butter, for example, contains more fat than a spoonful of applesauce. This does not make one food good and the other bad. Each food offers different nutrients. Eating a variety of foods helps the body get what it needs. People with food allergies can choose safe foods that provide similar nutrients.
Find Fats in Familiar Foods
We can observe pictures, packages, or food cards to find foods that contain fat. Nuts, seeds, avocado, cheese, yogurt, eggs, fish, and cooking oil are familiar examples. Some foods contain more fat per serving than others. For example, a tablespoon of oil contains more fat than an apple. An apple has little or no fat, but it gives the body other useful nutrients. On a food package, the Nutrition Facts label lists “Total Fat.” The number tells how many grams of fat are in one serving. Compare only the serving amounts shown on the cards or labels. Do not taste foods during this activity because classmates may have allergies. Look closely, share what you notice, and explain the evidence that helped you decide.
Model Food Fat Becoming Energy
After we eat, the body digests food by breaking it into very small parts. Fat is one of those parts. Digestion begins in the mouth and continues in the stomach and small intestine. Most digested fat is absorbed through the small intestine. The blood carries these small fat parts to cells around the body. Cells can use them to release energy for body activities. Imagine eating a small serving of avocado before playing outside. Your body digests the food, moves its nutrients through the blood, and uses energy to help your muscles work. We cannot see energy moving like a ball through the body, so we use arrows and pictures as a model. The model shows a sequence, but the real process has many tiny steps.
Store Some Energy for Later
The body may not need all the food energy at once. When more energy enters the body than it uses, some can be stored as body fat. Stored fat is like an energy supply for later. Between meals, during sleep, or during a long period of activity, the body can use some stored energy. For example, after breakfast, a child may use energy to learn and play. If some energy is not needed then, the body can save it and use it later. The body stores energy naturally, but people need different amounts of food depending on growth, activity, and other needs. A simple battery picture can model saving energy, but body fat is not a real battery. It is living body tissue that stores energy.
Sort and Count Food Cards
Use food cards with serving information to make three groups: more fat, some fat, and little or no fat. Follow the amounts printed on the cards because serving size matters. Suppose the class sorts 12 cards. Four cards go in “more fat,” five go in “some fat,” and three go in “little or no fat.” Record one tally mark for each card. Then make a picture graph with one square for each card. The “some fat” group has the most cards because five is greater than four and three. The “little or no fat” group has the fewest cards. This graph describes only the cards in the activity, not every food. Compare your results with a partner. Take turns explaining how you sorted a card and listen for evidence from its label.
Share One Healthy Choice
A healthy food choice can include different kinds of foods in amounts that meet a person’s needs. You might choose apple slices with sunflower seed butter for a snack. The apple provides nutrients, and the seed butter provides fat and energy. Another person might choose yogurt, avocado on toast, or a different safe option. Families make choices based on allergies, culture, cost, time, and which foods are available. Money and food can be limited resources, so people cannot always choose every option. With a partner, name one choice and give a reason. Say, “I would choose avocado on toast because it provides energy and fits our available foods.” Listen without interrupting, ask one helpful question, and remember that healthy choices can look different for different people.