Wouldn’t you want to know what would happen to a cheeseburger if it was put into your body, or how to live a healthy lifestyle? If the answer is yes, then take nutrition.
In nutrition class, students learn how to prevent diseases and other important information, such as what to do if you have diabetes. These are facts you need for the rest of your life, but inexplicably, the class is not required.
Nutrition class takes place in room 288 where students benefit from knowledge of diet and body functions, as well as a host of other topics. The class is taught by Kristen Daugherity, who also teaches chemistry. The class provides multiple labs, from making pumpkin pie, to acting as a patient for a diabetes lab.
Physical education is a required class for at least one year. In PE students are educated on how to stay active, and provided with 42 minutes of exercise every school day. Students may get active from PE, but it doesn’t teach them how their body is burning energy or fat, and where it is coming from. Physical education, health education, and nutrition can all be put in the same boat for helping your body, but no class goes as in-depth as nutrition.
The class teaches students a baseline for a healthier lifestyle, what foods to eat, what not to eat, and how your body is burning fat. Students learn about the Earth and the environment, how animals are treated on farms, as well as how food is packaged for sale. The class teaches facts we may not even know about our own bodies. Junior Josh Reid said he believes nutrition should be required. “Nutrition is very beneficial for my health, and teaches me a lot about my body, especially helpful as an athlete,” Reid said
The knowledge students receive from nutrition will last with them forever. It teaches you what the baseline for vitamins and minerals should be for you specifically. It even teaches you how to eat a balanced diet, and what fats you should avoid.
Students may struggle to find space in their schedule to fit in nutrition, as there are other classes required for graduation. Students such as sophomore Anna Sofronas planned their four-year schedules freshman year. “I decided to take biology and then chemistry, then onto physics,” Sofronas said.
Not taking a class like nutrition makes students miss out on insightful information that can be used for the rest of their lives. At a time where students feel classes don’t prepare them for the real world, nutrition class serves as a rare exception.
Senior Ashley London was informed by her friends of the curriculum of nutrition. As someone who works out, she wants to stay healthy. “I am always cautious of what I put in my body, and nutrition could have helped me learn more,” London said.
If MCPS can make classes such as physical education, or health education required, then I don’t understand how nutrition is not. All students want classes that are interesting and classes that they can use in the real world forever. Nutrition is that class because it teaches you A to Z for a healthy lifestyle. Every student should have a healthy lifestyle.
