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At what grade have others found it most helpful to introduce a science-based unit on nutrition?

I believe you can start in kindergarten, with the very basic needs of nutrition.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children's November 2014 issue of their journal, Young Children, focuses on nutrition and fitness for all young children. http://www.naeyc.org/yc/about I wrote a little about nutrition in the Early Years blog, http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2014/11/14/addressing-concerns-about-activity-and-healthy-eating/ Peggy

I'm not sure what grade, but as a student teacher I discuss the basic of nutrition when the students eat. I talk about the benefits of the different food (bananas help you have energy to run and learn). The cafeteria also labels the viewing windows of the lunch line with words like "protein". I tell the children that protein helps you build muscles so that you can be strong.

I would have to agree that nutrition can be taught in the lower elementary grades such as kindergarten or even pre-k. I think lots of kids eat unhealthy snacks, so teaching them about nutrition would be very beneficial and could help to promote and create good eating habits.

Do any of you have a good suggestion for some fun lessons to use to teach nutrition to a kindergarten classroom?

Early Sprouts is a seed-to-table gardening and nutrition curriculum. http://www.earlysprouts.org/

Starting early is better! At any age it is important to stay healthy to live a long life. But also to help prevent diseases. I know that it can be a very difficult and abstract topic to teach to younger kids who dont really understand how the body works. But I think that after students have a basic understanding of body parts that you can even play games like operation with them or have a cause and effect game about how eating badly can cause you to have a low immune system. Even adding some sort of role play.

I was placed in a kindergarten class for student teaching and I had to teach the students nutrition in relation to things that are good and bad for their teeth. One thing that I had the students do was a group picture sort of what was good and what was bad and then have each student bring up a picture to glue on to a class chart on what side it belonged on to hang in the classroom. The students had fun looking at the pictures of their favorite foods and liked seeing where it went on the chart.

I think at any grade it can be appropriate based on how you present it. I think students need to learn about nutrition from the very start, but the idea of how nutrition affects our body and the systems might not be covered until 4th or 5th grade.

I agree, I think it is very important for our kids to be knowledgable about what they are eating and what good health looks like. The obesity rate in this country is out of control and I think the earlier they start learning just simple things, the better. I was in a 4th grade classroom last year and the kids got monthly nutrition lessons on where their food was coming from, what made up processed and non-processed foods, and they also got to grow their own garden with different vegetables which they loved.