Educational Media Reviews Online

Both of these videos from Films for the Humanities and Sciences are beginning nutritional programs introducing the concepts of vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional building blocks and how proper nutrition translates into good health. Diet and Disease covers the links between our modern diet and the prevalence of certain diseases, focusing on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Nutrients covers the basic nutrients in our foods (vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrate, fats, water) and how they convert to energy production, what we need to maintain body processes and reviews the RDA guidelines.

Presented in a typical talking-head narrator style, and backed up with appropriate graphics and statistical charts, visual interest is minimal. Each program comes with a Teacher’s Guide pamphlet containing group and individual activities, discussion starters and assessment questions. There is a lot of good introductory information in these programs – almost too much for their length – that at times seemed a little disjointed. Recommended as suitable for jr. high to high school audiences as a supplement to classroom content.