Schools are prioritizing social and emotional learning (SEL) as an essential part of education to improve school climate, academic achievement and student well-being. Various approaches to SEL integration provide students with multiple opportunities to learn about, practice and continuously develop social-emotional skills. Nutrition education, which teaches children to make connections with food, health, environment and community, is a practical and engaging way to support students in developing their SEL skills.

Integrating SEL Through Nutrition Education 

Topics related to food naturally bring students together, encouraging discussion and skills practice while also relating food and nutrition to their own health, culture and personal experiences. Nutrition lessons and conversations offer relatable topics for daily practice of SEL competencies using real-life examples that personalize nutrition to make it relevant and applicable. Following are a few examples:

• Food tasting activities and school gardens offer opportunities for hands-on exploration of foods. Tasting allows children to experience and describe foods with all senses while building self-awareness. School gardens and food tasting allow for discussion about food sources, seasonality and cultural food preparations, all of which build social awareness and relationship skills.
• Nutrition education teaches a food group framework that empowers children to make healthy food choices, enabling them to be decision-makers for their own health and well-being. Healthy snacking and healthy breakfast choices are daily teachable moments for students to practice self-management and responsible decision-making skills.
• Farm to You programs teach children about where food comes from and increases social awareness and appreciation of the journey of food from the farm to the plate.

Food is a universal topic and therefore invites the practice of behaviors that show respect, appreciation and inclusivity with regard to cultures, backgrounds, languages and experiences of student communities at school and at home. Teach nutrition education to help children practice social-emotional skills. Dairy Council of California supports educators and families by providing free resources, including online learning curriculum. This list of Family Connections for each grade level provide concrete suggestions for promoting SEL at school and at home.