| Reviewers Comments: | Healthy Baby, Healthy Me is a food safety curriculum that was developed by The Ohio State University (OSU) Extension for pregnant women. It includes four lessons that can be taught one-on-one or in a group setting. The entire curriculum is downloadable for free from The Ohio State University Web site. Materials can be printed and placed in a three ring binder.
The lesson topics are as follows:
Lesson 1: Have a Safe Pregnancy – Focus on Listeria Monocytogenes
Lesson 2: Cleaning Your Hands and the Kitchen – Focus on Toxoplasma Gondii
Lesson 3: Choosing Safe Fruits and Vegetables – Focus on Salmonella
Lesson 4: Safe Cooking – Focus on Campylobacter
The information in these lessons is current and consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. The OSU Extension also provides links within their lesson plans to regularly updated, credible Web sites.
The Teachers Guide includes an outline and explanation of each lesson, directing the educator on what to say for each slide and when to include optional activities. Length is not indicated but lessons are versatile and can be customized to fill an allotted time slot. The average number of slides per lesson is forty. This curriculum can be used with an existing program or it can stand alone. Each lesson includes ideas and instructions for hands-on demonstrations and activities which require the purchase of additional materials. However, the lessons also contain photographs and illustrations to serve as visual aids if activities are not an option, or if the suggested props are not available.
Both English and Spanish materials are available, including marketing materials, program surveys, handouts, PowerPoints, and certificates of completion. The English and Spanish handouts are appropriate for low level readers, but are quite lengthy. If you have a budget to support your teaching, ideas for optional participant incentives are included as take-home reminders of lesson concepts.
Healthy Baby, Healthy Me can be taught in a variety of environments such as a local library, a school, or in a participant’s home, as it provides various teaching options including:
- Slide projection: Online slides are available for those who will have access to electronic media and the web during teaching sessions.
- DVD:PowerPoint slides can be downloaded to a DVD if the web will be unavailable.
- Flip charts:Slides can be printed from OSU's Web site, laminated, and assembled into table-top flip charts.
Since the Teachers Guide contains background information on each lesson including the phonetics of the bacteria, no prior knowledge of microbiology, food safety, nutrition or prenatal care is necessary. However, preparation time is required to read the background information, which is roughly three pages per lesson. Some of the activities also involve food, which may create extensive prep time for the educator who will want to complete the background reading in addition to preparing the food items.
Overall, Healthy Baby, Healthy Me is an accurate, versatile and fun resource for teaching food safety to pregnant women. The use of proper names for the bacteria discussed within this curriculum may be intimidating for some participants, but the visuals and in-class activities help to make these lessons easy to learn and retain.
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