3. Strong bones, strong girls. Calcium helps you grow strong. Do you know which foods have calcium? Milk is one. Ice cream, broccoli, yogurt and cheese pizza are others. With the help of your leader or family plan a delicious snack that has calcium for a troop meeting. Share the recipe.

Junior Girl Scouts:

1. The food pyramid. The food pyramid tells you the five kinds of food you should eat each day based on your needs:
*      vegetable group
*       fruit group
*       milk, yogurt, and cheese group
*       meat, poultry, fish, and eggs group
*       bread, cereal, pasta, and rice group

Get a chart of the food pyramid and see how many servings of each food group you should try to eat every day. What can you do to include all of these foods? With your family, plan some simple menus that can easily cover all groups. Share them with your group.

2. Serving sizes. Serving sizes are measuring tools to help you estimate how much you eat. For example, a serving size of meat is about 3 ounces or the size of a deck of cards. A medium potato is about the size of a computer mouse. Read the food labels on packages and cans to find out how much a serving size is, then keep track of what you eat for an entire day. Are you overeating? Jot down what you can do to cut down on some of the serving sizes you eat. You don’t need a scale; just use common sense. If you eat a steak the size of your dinner plate or three bowls of pasta, you ate too much!

3. Snack time. Got the munchies between meals? Create one or two smart snacks to share with friends. Smart snacks will be lower in fat and calories, but high in taste, like fruit and yogurt mix, string cheese, or a frozen juice bar.

4. Fast food? If you eat too fast, you may eat too much and get stuffed. It takes your stomach about 15-20 minutes to talk to your brain and let it know that it’s full. Try this: plan a family meal with “regular” portions of food and try to eat more slowly (can you all share the day’s events between bites?). Wait a while to see if you’re still hungry before eating more.

1. The 5/20 rule. Sometimes it’s hard to eat smart when you have so many foods from which to choose. Learn to read food labels and check “daily value” percent, the number that allows you to know whether there’s a lot or a little of a particular nutrient. For nutrients you want less of (such as saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat), choose foods with a low percent DV (five percent is low; 20 percent is high). For nutrients you want to eat more of (such as calcium, fiber, vitamins A and C, iron), choose foods with a high percent DV. Look at the daily value percent of three items that you eat often. Are you getting the right amount of nutrients in these foods? Can you substitute something else that might be more nutritious?

2. Fast food madness. How many calories do you think are in a huge burger with lettuce, tomato and fries, a 16-ounce can of soda and some yummy fried apple pie. This fast food meal actually has more than 1,300 calories (about 50 percent of the food energy you need for the day), almost 100 percent of the fat you should eat daily, only 14 percent of the calcium you need and hardly any fruits or veggies. What can you do to make this a healthier meal? Look at three of your favorite fast food meals and see how you can reduce the calories and fat and add calcium, fruits and vegetables.

3. Treat your taste buds. Sample some international foods at a local restaurant, group meeting or special event. Perhaps your friends might have some traditional ethnic foods they would like to share at a special event.

4. Calcium counts. It’s no secret. Calcium and Vitamin D build strong bones. Find out how much you need each day. Then find several tasty foods that can help you reach your goal.