This lesson plan from Pennington Biomedical Research Center covers energy balance and its components. It includes an overview of energy balance, what determines energy intake and expenditure, and what happens with energy imbalances over time. The lesson plan provides objectives, strategies, time requirements, materials, and a detailed teacher guide to explain energy balance concepts and calculate percentages of calories from fat, carbohydrates and protein using examples. Students will learn to identify the three components of energy expenditure and characteristics that contribute to it.

1. Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Awesome.2Cents! A Healthy Lifestyle Curriculum for Teens…
Grades 8-12
Lesson # 1: The Energy Balancing Act
Content outline
An overview of Energy Balance
What determines the energy in and energy out components
What happens with energy imbalances over time?
Tips to maintain energy balance
Louisiana content standards:
1-H-1, 1-H-2, 1-H-4, 1-H-5, 1-H-6, 2-H-2, 3-H-1, 3-H-2, 3-H-4, 3-H-4, 6-H-1, 6-H-4
1-M-2, 3-M-1, 3-M-2, 4-M-2, 5-M-4, 5-M-5
Objectives/Expected Learner Outcomes
Students can identify the three components of energy expenditure.
Students can identify the characteristics that contribute to energy expenditure.
Students can learn to calculate daily energy expenditure.
Lesson and Strategies
Student group targeted
7-12th grade
Time required
Teacher Preparation: 15-20 minutes
Assessment: 10 minutes
Materials and Resources
Power point presentation: The Energy Balance Act
Projector
Screen
Laptop/Computer
Energy Balance Assignment/Answer Key
Physical Activity Assignment/Answer Key
Physical Activity Energy Costs Handout
Calculating Percent of Energy Assignment
Teacher Preparation
Make copies of the Calculating Percent of Energy Assignment, Physical Activity
Assignment and the Energy Balance Assignment to pass out to students in class. The
calculating percent of energy assignment and the physical activity assignment are to be
completed during class, with the energy balance assignment being a homework assignment.

2. Slide Lesson Plan
1 The Energy Balancing Act
What’s it all about?
Say: This lesson is about energy that we consume and energy that we burn when we
move.
2
Say: This lesson will cover:
An overview of Energy Balance
We’ll talk about what it is and why it’s important.
What makes up the components of energy balance
What happens with energy imbalances over time?
Discuss how to maintain energy balance at 0 so we won’t gain or lose
weight over time and discuss tips and ideas
3
Say: Energy balance--What’s that got to do with me? The truth is that energy balance
is an important concept for everyone to learn about—no matter how old or how young
you are. First, we need to go over what we mean by balance?
You can view energy balance the same way that you would view a scale, or even a
seesaw. For example, What would happen if you were at a playground and decided
to go and sit down on one side of an unoccupied seesaw?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (Answer = that side of the seesaw will fall to the
ground)
Say: So, the seesaw would be out of balance, right. You would need someone else to
come and sit on the other side. If you can find someone to come and sit down, but they
are much heavier than you are, then what happens to your side?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (A= your side goes higher because you weigh less)
Say: Again, the seesaw is out of balance. Next, you put your feet on the ground to hold
yourself in place.
What if someone sat down who had the same weight as you? What would happen?
Your friend who weighs more steps off and another one steps on. This friend weighs
basically the same as you. As you lift your feet back up off of the ground, What
happens now to your side?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (Answer = it becomes level with your friends side).
Say: This seesaw example is a lot like how energy balance is—except instead of people
on either side of the seesaw (or scale), we have energy input on one side and
energy output on the other. But what does that mean? What determines how much

3. input you’ll have and what determines how much output? This is the very thing that we
will go over next.
4 Energy Input – Where is it coming from?
Say: On one side of the energy balance equation are foods and other side has energy
we expend. This is your energy input (calories going into your body). Everyone needs
to eat food in order to survive. It is through the metabolism of nutrients found in the
foods that we eat that we receive chemical energy to operate our bodies. But, of
course—we need to balance what goes in (energy input) our body with goes out
(energy output), or else we’ll have all of this excess energy in our bodies.
Can anyone tell me what the 3 macronutrients are in our diets (meaning the three
nutrients found in food where we derive our energy from)?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (Answer= carbohydrates, protein, and fat)
Say: For most people, about 43 to 58 percent of daily calories come from
carbohydrates, about 30 to 45 percent of calories come from fats, and about 12 percent
come from proteins. You might ask, how do I know how many calories from fat,
carbohydrate and protein I consume for a given day? I will provide an example on how
to do that in just a moment.
5
Say: The first thing that you need to know is how many calories each gram of fat,
protein and carbohydrate supplies. What is the first thing that you notice on this
slide that is different between fat and the other two nutrients, carbohydrates and
protein?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (Answer = fat provides more kcal for every gram
that is consumed than does carbohydrate or protein
Say: It is true that fat is more calorie (or energy)-dense than carbohydrate and protein.
But, this most definitely does not mean that we need to eliminate fat altogether from
our diets. Fat is an important component of our diet that has many important roles in
the body. The type of fat that we eat [trans and saturated vs. unsaturated fats] is very
important, even more so than the amount, although we still do want to keep our intakes
of fat at moderate levels.
6 Let’s talk about the different types of fat we just mentioned:
 Saturated – solid at room temperature (butter, lard), causes hardening of arteries
and hardening of all cell walls. Cell walls are full of lipid and we want most of
it to be unsaturated.
 Unsaturated fat – liquid at room temperature (oils). When we consume mainly
unsaturated fats, most of the fat in our cell walls will be unsaturated and this
helps keep our cells walls fluid and allows different substances to enter and exit

4. which is particularly good for delaying and preventing the development of
diabetes.
 Trans fat – Produced during food processing, occurs in ready - made foods such
as cakes, crackers. Increases bad cholesterol (Low density lipoprotein or LDL)
in the blood.
7
Say: Raise your hand if you like pizza. (allow students time to respond). For our
example, we will look at the percent of calories from total fat, carbohydrates, and
protein in 2 slices of Pizza.
In one serving of pizza (which is technically 2 slices), there are:
280 kcal
14 grams of total fat
28 grams of carbohydrates and
11 grams of protein
Say: The first thing that we will do is to calculate what percent of energy comes from
fat in one serving of the pizza. If there are 9 kcal for every gram of fat, then we need to
multiply the amount of fat found in the 2 slices of pizza (which is 14 grams of fat)
times 9. So, that would be 14 times 9.
Do: Write on the board 14 grams of fat x 9 kcal/gram of fat = 126 kcal. Also, be sure
to indicate to the students that grams of fat cancel out and that you are left with calories
only.
Say: What we just figured up was the number of calories in 2 slices of pizza that came
from fat. Next, we need to know the actual percent of calories that came from fat. We
would do this by dividing the number of calories from fat by the total calories in the
serving of pizza that we ate. This would be 126 divided by 280.
Do: Write on the board (underneath the last part) 126 kcal/280kcal = 0.45
Say: We get a decimal of 0.45. Does anyone know what we need to do to make this
a percent?
Do: Encourage students to answer. (Answer = multiply the decimal by 100)
Say: Yes, and once we do this, we find that in this meal, 45% of the calories came from
fat (total fat). Next, we will calculate the percent of calories from carbohydrates in this
meal. Remember, that there are 4 kcal for every gram of carbohydrates. In this
example, the meal (which is 2 slices of pizza) has 28 grams of carbohydrates. So, we
need to multiply the total grams of carbohydrates in this meal times 4 (28 times 4).

5. Do: Write on the board 28 grams of carbohydrates x 4 kcal/gram of carbohydrate =
112 kcal. Note that when you multiply, grams of carbohydrates cancel out and you are
left with kcal only.
Say: We find that there are 112 calories from carbohydrates in this meal. Next, we
need to figure up what percent of calories came from carbohydrates. We do this by
dividing the number calories provided by carbohydrates in our meal by the number
of total calories in the meal. This is: 112 divided by 280.
Do: Write on the board: 112 / 280 = 0.40.
Say: Once we multiply this decimal by 100, we find that 40% of the calories in this
meal are from carbohydrate. Finally, we will calculate the percent of calories in this
meal from protein. Remember, that like carbohydrates, protein also has 4 kcal per
gram. In this meal, there are 11 grams of protein, so in order to determine the number
of calories from protein we would need to multiply 11 grams of protein by 4 kcal.
Do: Write 11 grams of protein x 4 kcal/gram of protein = 44 kcal on the board. Again,
note that grams of protein cancel out, leaving you with kcal only.
Say: In this meal, there are 44 kcal from protein. To calcualte the percent of kcal from
protein in this meal, we need to divide 44 kcals (calories from protein in the meal) by
the total number of calories in the meal, 280.
Do: Write 44/280= 0.1571
Say: When we multiply this decimal by 100, we get an answer of 15.7 which can be
rounded to 16%. This tells us that 16% of the calories in this meal come from protein.
8 Energy Input
Say: Now, we are going to calculate how many calories came from fat, carbohydrates,
and protein in another example. But this time instead of using a meal as an example,
we will use an entire days worth of meals and beverages. Here is our example:
On Monday, Jane consumed 1,800 calories, 65 grams of fat, 240 grams of
carbohydrates, and 55 grams of protein. I’m going to give you a handout with this
information on it, and will allow you time to work through it. Remember what we
learned: 1 gram of fat = 9 kcal; 1 gram of carbohydrate= 4 kcal and 1 gram of protein =
4 kcal. If you have any questions, just let me know.
------------------------------------------------BREAK---------------------------------------------
Do: Pass out the Calculating Percent Energy from total fat, carbohydrates and
protein handout. Allow students time to work through the example. Walk around the

6. room and assist any student having problems.
Here is how to work the example through:
65 grams of total fat. 65 g of fat x 9 kcal/g fat = 585 kcal. This means that 585
kcal came from fat for that day. Next, divide the number of calories from fat by
the total number of calories consumed for the day. 585/1,800= 0.325. After you
multiply this decimal by 100; you find that 32.5% of calories came from fat
in Jane’s diet on Monday.
240 grams of carbohydrates. 240 g of carb x 4 kcal/g carb = 960 kcal. This
means that 960 kcal came from carbohydrates for that day. Next, divide the
number of calories from carbohydrates by the total number of calories
consumed for the day. 960/ 1800 = 0.53333. After you multiply this decimal by
100 and round, you find that 53% of calories came from carbohydrates in
Jane’s diet on Monday.
55 grams of protein. 55 g of pro x 4 kcal/g pro = 220 kcal. This means that 250
kcal came from protein for that day. Next, divide the number of calories from
carbohydrates by the total number of calories consumed for the day. 250/1800 =
0.138889. After you multiply this decimal by 100 and round, you find that
14% of calories came from protein in Jane’s diet on Monday.
** When it looks like students are done with the exercise, continue**
Say: Does anyone know the percent of calories that Jane consumed from fat?
(Answer= 32.5%). What about the percent of energy from carbohydrates?
(Answer= 53%) And, finally—what about the protein? (Answer= 14%). When you
add those percents up, the total should be at or very near 100 %.(32.5 + 53.0 + 14 =
99.5). And, for our example, we find that it is!
Say: So, did Jane follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ recommendations
for fat intake? (Answer = yes, 32.5% falls within the range of 25 to 35%). What does
everyone think will happen if Jane continues to eat fewer calories than
recommended? (Answer = with time, she will lose weight). We will go over this in
more detail in just a little while. And, finally does anyone know which side of the
scale corresponds to the 1,800 calories that Jane consumed? (answer = “A”).
9 Energy In
Say: You might ask, “How do I know how many calories I am consuming each day?”
Luckily, there is an easy answer. For most foods that you eat, the food package will
show a nutrition facts panel. The nutrition facts panel provides information about
calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients contained in the food. You can
even find nutrition facts panels on the package of most meat that is purchased (like
ground beef, chicken breasts, etc) in the meat section at your local grocery store. The
only thing that might be a little hard to find information on is fresh produce, although

7. some stores are starting to list this information at the produce section.
Here is an example of a nutrition facts panel. This example is for a small container of
fat-free milk. One important thing that I must point out is the serving size and number
of servings per container of package. Understanding how many calories you are
actually consuming can be tricky unless you understand this part. In red, we have
highlighted the serving size found in this beverage. It is 8 ounces, or 1 cup. Everything
listed below this--- calories, total fat, carbohydrates, protein, etc—is pertaining to how
much of each nutrient is found in one serving. But, there is not just one serving in this
container. If you look at the part highlighted in blue, you will see that there are two
servings of milk in the container. Therefore, if you were to drink the entire container,
you would be consuming not one but rather two servings, and would have to multiply
the calories, along with everything else listed below, by two.
From looking at this nutrition facts panel that I have here,
Can anyone tell me how many grams of total fat are found in ONE serving of
skim milk? (Answer = zero grams) Yes, skim milk contains no fat.
Can anyone tell me how many grams of total carbohydrates are found in ONE
serving of skim milk? (Answer = 12 grams) What about in TWO servings? (Answer
= 24 grams)
Can anyone tell me how many grams of protein are found in ONE serving of skim
milk? (Answer = 8 grams) What about in TWO? (Answer = 16 grams).
10 Energy Output
Say: Now we know how to calculate the number of calories (and amounts of fat,
carbohydrates, and protein) that we consume from foods. And, as we said earlier this is
what contributes to energy input -- the energy that goes into our bodies from the food
that we eat! Next, we will talk about the other side of the scale (or seesaw) of energy
balance—and that is energy output. Energy output deals with the amount of calories
(energy) that you use each day. There are three factors that account for the calories you
use each day and these are:
Basal metabolism
Physical activity (and the)
Thermic effect of food
Basal metabolism makes up the largest portion of energy output, followed by physical
activity and then the Thermic effect of food. I think that of these three terms, we are
more likely to be familiar with physical activity—but in just a while, we will be
familiar with basal metabolism and Thermic effect of food, too. Let’s start with basal
metabolism.
11 Energy Out – Basal Metabolism
Say: No matter how still your body is, internal activity always continues—even while
you are asleep. While resting, your brain and liver, two very important organs, use

8. about 40% of your body’s energy. Your lungs, another important organ, also have to
continue working to supply your tissues with oxygen. Basal metabolism can be
defined as the amount of energy required to support the operation of all internal body
systems except for digestion. It includes the energy your body uses every day to
breathe, circulate blood, and maintain nerve activity. Things like secreting hormones,
maintaining body temperature, and making new cells are also part of basal metabolism.
The rate at which your body uses energy for basal metabolism is known as your basal
metabolic rate (BMR). An equation called the Harris benedict equation is used to
calculate energy needs. Harris-Benedict equation gives us our BMR or BEE (basal
energy expenditure).
Harris Benedict for men,
B.E.E. = 66.5 + (13.75 x kg) + (5.003 x cm) - (6.775 x age)
Harris Benedict for women,
B.E.E. = 655.1 + (9.563 x kg) + (1.850 x cm) - (4.676 x age)
Total Caloric Requirements equal the B.E.E. multiplied by the sum of the stress and
activity factors. Stress plus activity factors range from 1.2 to over 2.
Harris Benedict equation does not account for physical activity. That’s because
physical activity is not a portion of your BMR. It is a separate concept.
12 Basal metabolic rate
Say: So, if the BMR is the largest slice from the pie of energy output, then what
predicts our BMR? There are actually many factors which effect BMR, some of
which include: your body structure (height), body composition, and gender.
Body structure A tall person will have a higher BMR than a short person
because the tall person has more body surface area through which heat is lost.
Body composition refers to the percent of different tissues in the body, like:
fat, muscle and bone. Someone with a high proportion of muscle will have a
higher BMR than someone with more fat tissue. This is because it takes more
calories to maintain muscle tissue than it does for fat. This means that muscle is
more metabolically active.
Gender Males will generally have a higher BMR than females since males
have more lean body mass than do females.
Age is another factor. As you grow older, your BMR tends to decline. There is
actually a 5% decrease in BMR for every 10 years past the age of 30.
13 Basal metabolic rate
Say: There are other factors which influence BMR. These include: body temperature,
thyroid gland secretion, diet type, and periods of growth.
Body temperature is one factor. Temperature, both inside and outside of the
body, can adjust your BMR. For example, fever increases BMR.

9. Thyroid gland secretion is another factor. The thyroid gland secretes a
hormone known as thyroxine, which regulates basal metabolism. In some
instances, people have an overactive thyroid gland, which secretes too much
thyroxine, in which case—these people have a high BMR. The opposite can
also be true. Some people have an underactive thyroid gland, in which case not
enough thyroxine is released causing a lower BMR.
Diet. The calorie content of your diet can also influence your BMR. A diet
that is very low in calories actually decreases your BMR by about 10 to 20%.
This is because your body views this as a period of famine and tries its best to
effectively operate on what is available. In simple terms, the body lowers its
energy need to try its best to still do the essential functions. This is why
someone restricting calories only (and not exercising) may have a hard time
reaching weight goals. Exercise is an important part of any weight loss goal.
Finally, periods of growth can also change the BMR. During growth, BMR are
higher. This is true during infancy, childhood, and teen years, when the body is
growing and expanding—and also during pregnancy.
As you probably noticed, there aren’t many factors that we’ve discussed that you can
change. However, there is one way that you may be able to impact your BMR; and that
is, by adding regular physical activity into your lifestyle. This can help you develop
more muscle and as we said, higher muscle mass means a higher BMR.
14 Physical activity
Say: The second category of energy output is the energy you use for physical activity.
The amount of energy that you burn during an exercise depends on: your body size and
the actual movement of your muscles. The larger the body size, the more energy you
will need in order to make the muscles work. With that said, we would expect a 220-
pound woman to burn more calories while walking than a 150-pound woman walking
at the same pace. The amount of muscle movement that you do during exercise also
influences how many calories you will burn. Swinging your arms while you walk will
cause you to burn more calories than if you walked keeping your arms at your sides.
Someone who fidgets while sitting at a desk spends more energy than someone who
sits still.
15 Energy cost of various physical activities
Say: On this slide, you will see the energy costs for various activities. Activities are
separated based on intensity, where the top represents those that burn the least number
of calories and the bottom represents the most strenuous of all activities. Like I had
mentioned earlier, you are always using calories. Even when you sleep. Who would
have thought that for every hour that you sleep, you burn 60 calories. Of course you
would have to do more physical activity than just sitting and sleeping, or else you
would not have a very large energy output. Be sure to note that the calories used
column represents how many calories are used per hour of engaging in a particular
activity. So, if you only did an activity for 15 minutes (or ¼ of an hour), then you
would have to divide the number that you look up on the chart for that activity by 4.

10. Do: Read over each type of activity and state examples of each.
Activity Calories used per hour
Sleep 60
Sedentary activities 80 to 100
Such as reading, eating, watching television, sewing, (average = 90)
playing cards, using a computer, studying, other
sitting activities.
Light activities 110 to 160
Such as cooking, doing the dishes, ironing, grooming, (average = 135)
walking slowly, more strenuous sitting activities
Moderate activities 170 to 240
Such as walking moderately fast, making beds, light (average = 205)
gardening, standing activities requiring arm
movement
Vigorous activities 250 to 350
Such as walking fast, bowling, golfing, yard work (average = 300)
Strenuous activities 350 or more
Such as running, dancing, bicycling, playing football,
playing tennis, cheerleading, swimming, skiing,
playing active games
Say: Next, I will hand out an assignment so we can put what we have learned about
physical activity to the test. It will be a list of all activities that were done over a 24-
hour period by a person. All that you have to do is figure up:
The total time spend doing each activity,
Decide which type of activity it is (light, moderate, etc) and then
Determine how many calories that exercise used for that given amount of time.
Be sure to use the average amount of calories used per hour when it is listed, too.
Do: Pass out the Physical activity handout.
Say: I want everyone to learn how to do this on their own, but feel free to get help from
a friend if you are stuck. You can also ask me for help if you have any questions.
---------------------------------------------BREAK--------------------------------------------------
Do: Allow students time to work through the assignment. Walk around the room and
assist any student who is stuck. When it looks like the students are done, proceed.
Say: Can anyone tell me which one of Alyssa’s activities burned the greatest # of
calories? (Answer = cheerleading)

11. Which activity burned the least number of calories? (Answer = riding in the car)
What was the total number of calories that she burned for the day?
(Answer = ~3,049 kcal)
16 Thermic effect of food
Say: Your third need for energy is due to the Thermic effect of food. The Thermic
effect of food is the energy required to complete the processes of digestion, absorption,
and metabolism. It can be thought of as the energy required to extract energy from
food. Although it can differ slightly depending on the types and amounts of foods
eaten, the Thermic effect of food is generally equal to only 5 to 10% of your combined
basal metabolism and physical activity needs. So, if a person burned 2,200 calories for
physical activity and basal metabolism, then they would spend about 220 calories for
the Thermic effect of food (2200 x 0.10 [10 percent] = 220)
17 How does energy balance work?
Say: In the next section, we will talk about energy balance and imbalance—what
would lead to either one of these situations.
18 So, energy balance looks like…
Say: Are you in energy balance? Well, you could figure this out by calculating your
energy input – the number of calories that you consume on a given day and comparing
this with your energy output—from physical activity, basal metabolism and the
Thermic effect of food. The less complicated way is to follow your weight over time.
If you are gaining or losing weight, then you will know that you are not. If your weight
remains relatively stable from week to week, and month to month, then you are. Your
energy input would be relatively equal to your energy output. Of course, everyone’s
weight fluctuates from time to time, but if you see your weight headed in a certain
direction—either steadily up or steadily down, you will know that you are not in
balance.
There are two causes of energy imbalance and that is: consuming too many or too few
calories. Consuming too many calories is referred to as energy excess, whereas
consuming too few is referred to as energy deficiency. In the U.S. are we usually more
likely to consume too many or not enough calories considering that 2/3rd of the
population is overweight or obese? (Let students think and attempt to answer).Too
many.
19 Am I in energy balance?
Say: The following is important to understand. The first equation in pink explains what
contributes to weight gain, and that is – as you may have guessed, an energy input that
is greater than your output. So, what does that mean? That means that you are
consuming more calories than what you actually need. A seesaw of this example with
energy input on one side and energy output on the other would have energy input

12. weighing down one side. You’re consuming more calories than what your body needs
and you will put on weight.
The second equation in blue explains what contributes to weight loss, and that is—an
energy input that is less than your output. So, what does that mean? That means that
you are not consuming enough calories to meet your energy needs. A seesaw of this
example with energy input on one side and energy output on the other side would
have energy input elevated much higher than energy output. You’re not consuming
enough calories to meet your needs and you would lose weight.
Finally, the last equation in orange explains what contributes to weight maintenance
and that is—and energy input that is equal to your output. So, what does that mean?
That means that what you are consuming is matching what you are using. Weight
maintenance is important because if you are already at a healthy weight, then you don’t
want to lose or gain any extra weight.
20 Basal metabolic calculator
Say: There are ways of calculating basal metabolic rate without being measured by a
respirometer. One of the ways is to use a standardized equation. There are many
equations around to do this and they are all fairly accurate to give us an idea of our
energy needs. We will use these equations for men and women to calculate resting
metabolic rate. This is your modified Harris Benedict equation using pounds and
inches instead of meters and kilograms.
21 Let’s calculate BMR
Say:
As an example, we will use Sue who is 18 yrs, 5’ 4”, 145 lbs. I will show you the
calculation using her information.
22 Harris Benedict Formula
Say:
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate
activity factor, as follows:
 If you are sedentary (little or no exercise, mainly sitting, watching TV, reading)
: Calories = BMR x 1.2
 If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calories = BMR
x 1.375
 If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): Calories
= BMR x 1.55
 If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calories = BMR
x 1.725
 If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job) : Calories =
BMR x 1.9

13. 23 Let’s calculate energy expenditure
Say:
Once we have basal metabolic rate, we can also calculate total energy expenditure on
an individual once we know how many hours of a type of activity they engage in.
In our example, Sue has the following activity pattern: Sleep = 9 hrs, Light activity = 6
hrs, Sitting in class = 5 hrs, Homework = 2 hrs, Walking = 2 hrs. Total = 24 hours
We can now plug our information in the equation and find our total energy
expenditure.
For Sue:
Sue EE = (9/24 x BMR) + (6/24 x BMR x 1.375) + ( 7/24 x BMR x 1.25) + (2/24
x BMR x 1.55)
= (9/24 x 1512) + (6/24 x 1512 x 1.375) + (7/24 x 1512 x 1.25) + (2/24 x 1512 x
1.55)
= 567 + 519.75 + 551.25 + 195.30
= 1833.3 ~ 1833
24 The truth about physical activity
Say: As I just mentioned, Americans are not exercising as much as they should be.
And, physical activity is a big piece to the puzzle of energy balance. Even if you aren’t
trying to lose weight, it is very important not only because of the benefits that it
provides, but also because it increases your energy output, allowing you to consume
more calories each day (energy input) without gaining weight. And, if you are trying to
lose weight, combining dietary efforts (lower calorie food choices) with exercises
greatly improves the odds that you will be successful.
From a survey taken in 2001 in the United States, we see that only 4 out of 10 women
are engaging in the recommended levels of physical activity. Physical activity has been
shown to be influenced by age (where activity is shown to decline with age), gender
(where males are more likely to exercise than are females), income status and
education levels, where those with less education and income are less likely to exercise
than those with higher income status and education levels.
25 The benefits of exercise
Say: So, what are the benefits of exercise? There are many.
One benefit is that exercise helps to strengthen your cardiovascular and respiratory
systems. You may not understand why this is a huge benefit now, but know that
cardiovascular disease is not something that just occurs over night—it is a gradual
process that begins even in childhood. Doing things that are good for your heart now
will definitely pay off later in life.
Another benefit is that exercise helps to keep your bones and muscles strong.
Regular exercise is one of the best things that you can do to keep yourself from getting

14. the bone-weakening disease later in life, known as osteoporosis. Also, strong bones and
muscles help you to have better balance and coordination.
As we’ve already touched on, regular exercise also helps to manage your weight since
it increases the calories that your body uses, better matching calories in with calories
out. Maintaining a healthy weight is essential to prevent obesity and to prevent
conditions such as arthritis later in life caused by extra weight on bones and joints.
Exercise also helps you to prevent the development of diabetes or manage the
condition if you already have it. For people with type 2 diabetes, a healthy diet
combined with regular physical activity is essential to control their condition.
Reoccurring elevated sugar levels in the blood from foods high in carbohydrate (high
glycemic-foods) in people who are sedentary greatly puts you at risk for the
development of Type 2 diabetes. Exercise is good not only for people who already
have the condition, but also for people without the condition as it helps to lower their
risks. Exercise lowers blood sugar levels in two ways. One is by pulling sugar from the
blood to the muscles to use for energy both during and after exercise. The other is by
helping to increase insulin’s sensitivity (ability to do its job). Insulin is the hormone
responsible for regulating blood sugar. When it is working properly, it pulls blood
sugar from the blood and into the cells where it can be used for energy.
Exercise also helps to ease depression and manage pain and stress. It does so by
activating neurotransmitters, which are chemicals used by nerve cells to communicate
with one another. The activation of these neurotransmitters is associated with
avoidance of depression. Exercise also activates endorphins, which are other
neurotransmitters that produce feelings of “well-being” for natural pain and stress relief
Exercise also helps to lower your risk for developing certain cancers. These cancers
are: prostate, colon, uterine lining (endometrium) and breast. Exercise is believed to
lower the risk of breast and endometrial cancer by reducing body fat and lowering the
production of estrogen. Researchers are not quite as sure of how exercise helps to
lower colon cancer, but they believe that it may have something to do with the fact that
exercise helps digested food to move through the colon more quickly. How exercise
helps to lower the risk for prostate cancer in men is at present, unknown.
And, finally exercise can help you sleep better. Moderate physical activity at least 3
hours before bedtime has been shown to help you relax and sleep better at night.
26 Inactivity
Say: Exercise has many excellent benefits. But in order to receive these benefits, you
must exercise. Physical inactivity leads to loss of muscle, reduced functional capacity,
and can contribute to obesity over time. Exercise helps to protect us against the
development of heart disease, diabetes and certain kinds of cancer, so if you don’t
exercise—then you are at greater risk for these diseases. It is true that individuals who
are fit can do more things, have better endurance for activities and tasks, and are
healthier than individuals of low fitness. You have to be a “star athlete” however.

15. Regular physical activity of any sort has benefits. So, whether you are increasing your
activity each day by walking a little more, doing some cleaning, or challenging your
friends to a basketball game, remember that a little change goes a long way. Start out
slow and gradually and build more exercise into your daily activities. And, don’t stress
if you fall out of your routine on one day. Start out fresh again the next day.
27 Energy imbalance
Say: Consuming more calories than you need will lead to weight gain over time. This
is why exercise is so important. It increases your energy output and promotes energy
balance. Exercise is the one component of energy output that you have the most control
over. Did you know that for every 3,500 calories you have in excess of needs, one
pound of body weight is gained? This seems like a large number, but it can creep up
on you quicker than you might realize at times because this is a cumulative process that
builds up over days, weeks, months and even years. Eating an extra 280 calories each
day, say from a candy bar, could lead to 1 lb of stored body fat in less than 2 weeks. In
one year, if you were to eat an extra 280 calories each day and not adjust for it by
increasing your activity, you could gain as much as 27 pounds!
Obesity is becoming more prevalent. Increasing portion sizes are believed to have
contributed to weight gain in recent years, as people are consuming much more calories
this way--- and are not always aware of it. An example would be choosing a larger
version of fries or a soft drink at a fast food restaurant. For example, a small order of
fries has 230 calories; whereas the largest order of fries has 600 calories. This is a
difference of 370 kcals! The same is true with beverages. A small coke from a fast food
restaurant may only have 140 calories, but if you were to order a king size coke, you
would be consuming 390 calories from a beverage. The difference between the small
and king size drink is 250 kcals!
An over reliance on convenience foods in recent years has also believed to contribute
to obesity as the options chosen by most people are generally high in calories and fat.
Americans, as a whole, are also much less active than they used to be. And, these
sedentary behaviors, alone or combined with higher energy intakes, are believed to
have contributed to much of the weight gain that we have seen in recent years.
So, how do we overcome this? One big part is choosing better food choices. The
Dietary guidelines for Americans tell us to choose a variety of nutrient-dense foods
each day, and to limit those foods dense in energy with little to no nutrient value.
28 Recommendations for physical activity
Say: Another big part is increasing physical activity. It’s hard to change our eating
habits—these are something that we’ve learned from birth. Incorporating regular
physical activity into your daily activities is another good option. And, remember no
one expects you to completely change your lifestyle over night. It’s the drastic changes
in our lifestyle that are the hardest to keep. It’s the small changes that we are able to
live with and even small changes can add up in a big way over time.
Be sure to remember that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that all

16. children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on
most, but preferably all, days of the week.
29-34 Review
Say: The statement on each of the slides in navy blue—asking students if they feel that
the statement is true or false.
Do: Encourage students to answer and ask them to say why they feel it is true or why
they feel it is false (depending on their answer). Once you have received enough
answers to proceed, press the space bar to reveal the answer, along with the explanation
of why it is the right answer.
35 Maintain the balance
36 Authors:
Heli Roy, PhD, RD
Shanna Lundy, MS
Division of Education
Phillip Brantley, PhD, Director
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Steven Heymsfield, MD, Executive Director
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a world-renowned nutrition research
center.
Mission:
To promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and preventive
medicine.
The Pennington Center has several research areas, including:
Clinical Obesity Research
Experimental Obesity
Functional Foods
Health and Performance Enhancement
Nutrition and Chronic Diseases
Nutrition and the Brain
Dementia, Alzheimer’s and healthy aging
Diet, exercise, weight loss and weight loss maintenance
The research fostered in these areas can have a profound impact on healthy living and
on the prevention of common chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes,
hypertension and osteoporosis.
The Division of Education provides education and information to the scientific
community and the public about research findings, training programs and research
areas, and coordinates educational events for the public on various health issues.

17. We invite people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the exciting research
studies being conducted at the Pennington Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If you
would like to take part, visit the clinical trials web page at www.pbrc.edu or call (225)
763-3000.
Edited: October 2012