Feast & Famine

December and all the celebrations that include the traditional holiday foods has come to an end. Welcome January—National Diet Month—that starts the long and painful withdrawal from feasting and the trauma of clothing that may no longer fit. Yes, January is the time when most of us pull out the scales, take a deep breath, and buckle down to dieting in hopes of getting rid of weight gained over the holiday season.

January means the aisles that once held holiday candy and chocolates have now been stocked to the hilt with diet foods and diet aids. Why you ask? Because the start of a new year provides millions of Americans with the motivation for personal improvement resolutions that most often focus in losing weight.

It's a time when people will be drinking diet shakes and munching on diet bars. Grocery stores will be selling out of chicken breast and lettuce. Your local Drug Stores will be selling boxes and boxes of diet pills. And last but not least; everyone and their brother will be signing up for gym membership.

Yes, the month of January is all about diets so enjoy it while you can because, come February, the shelves will again be stocked with snack foods and party ideas to prepare for Super Bowl Sunday.

Have your students investigate both sides of the surge in dieting and types of diets spawned by New Year resolutions. SIRS Leading Issues provides the content and unique critical thinking process to help students answer this question: "Is a low-carbohydrate, high protein diet an effective way to lose weight?"

Assign students to take either a Pro or Con position on the issue. Students should write a report of at least 150 words, or a presentation of at least seven slides, that uses the unique models integrated into SIR Issues Researcher (see details below).

Students should cite at least four resources that address the essential questions (you can add or substitute others) listed for the Pro or Con position that they are assigned.

Click the Visual Browse tab > Drugs, Health, and Wellness > Fad Diets

SIRS unique report/presentation models: You can help students develop additional 21st Century skills by providing them with additional strategies to differentiate the ways that they demonstrate what they have learned.

Within this assigned SIRS issue are the links to templates for a formal research paper, a mini-research paper, a slide presentation, and a mini-informal debate: click the RESEARCH TOOLS icon and browse the choices in Other Resources section.