HPER 1110: PERSONAL & COMMUNITY HEALTH
STUDY GUIDE / NUTRITION ACTIVITY
CHAPTER 5
This activity will help
you:
- understand basic nutrition concepts and recommendations
- analyze information generated from MyPyramid
- understand your current nutritional status
1. Types of nutrients - their functions and sources
a. carbohydrates
b. fats
c. proteins
d. vitamins
e. minerals
f. water
2. Nutrition Guidelines:
b. MyPyramid
3. Calories:
(a) According to the “nutrient intakes” printout, what is your recommended
number of kcalories?
(b) How many kcalories did you consume?
(c) How did your kcalorie intake compare to your recommended intake? If
you continue to eat in this way, will you most likely gain, lose, or maintain
your weight?
4. Energy Nutrient Distribution
The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR) for the energy nutrients are as follows: protein (10% - 35%), carbohydrates (45% - 65%), and fat (20% - 35%). Calculate the percentage of total calories you consumed for each of the energy nutrients using the ”Nutrient Intakes” printout and the calculations below:
(a)
grams of carbohydrate x 4
= _______% of total calories from carbohydrates
total calories
(b)
grams of protein x 4
= _______% of total calories from protein
total calories
(c)
grams of fat x 9
= _______% of total calories from fat
total calories
(d) How closely did you match the recommendations? If your did not meet the recommended proportions, what could you do to help achieve a better dietary profile?
5. MyPyramid Recommendations, Balance and Variety
(a) Looking at your “MyPyramid Recommendations” printout, complete the following chart:
|
|
How much is suggested for your kcalorie level? |
How much did you consume? |
To meet recommendations, do you need to increase, decrease, or maintain the amount consumed? |
| Fruits |
|
||
| Vegetables | |||
| Grains | |||
| Meat & Beans |
|
||
| Milk |
|
(b) Do you generally consume a variety of
foods from each food group? ______
If yes, explain how your diet varied. If no, explain and describe how you could
introduce more variety in your diet.
(c) Do you generally select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green,
orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times each
week?____
If yes, explain how. If no, which vegetable subgroup(s) do you need to
add?____________________
Describe ways in which you could add more of these into your diet.
(d) Discretionary Calories: To help you achieve weight management goals and get the most nutrition out of the food you eat, one should stay within the recommended number of discretionary calories. You can learn more about discretionary calories at: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/discretionary_calories.html .
6. Carbohydrates:
(a)
A diet rich in complex
carbohydrates from whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables is recommended.
Recommendations also suggest half your grains should come from whole grains and
no more than 25% of your total calories should come form added sugars. Discuss
the quality of the carbohydrates you ate. What could you do to make
improvements in the quality of carbohydrates that you eat?
(b) Fiber
- How much fiber did you consume?
- The Adequate Intake for fiber is 25 grams / day for women and 38 grams / day for men or 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 kcals you consumed. Did you eat the recommended amount?
- If your fiber intake was deficient, what could you do to increase your
fiber intake? If it was not deficient, what can be done to maintain your
intake? Check out this link for good fiber sources: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/appendixB.htm#AppB8
7. Fats
(a) Because of their role in heart disease, recommendations suggest limiting saturated and trans fats.
- Do you consume less than 10% of total calories from saturated fats (use calculation below)?
saturated fat grams_____ x 9 kcal/grams = _________% of
calories from saturated fats
total calories
- See the attached link regarding sources of transfats.
http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2003/503_fats.html . Do you think you generally include trans fats in
your diet? Explain your answer.
(b) Because of it's role in raising blood cholesterol levels, the recommended amount of dietary cholesterol is less than 300 mg / day. Did you fall within this recommendation? If not, what could you do to reduce the amount of cholesterol consumed? To learn more about cholesterol and other fats, go to: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4582
(c) Omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid) are important since they help reduce risk for heart disease and help reduce inflammation in other diseases (i.e. arthritis). the AI for alpha-linolenic acid is 1.1-1.6 grams/day (0.6% - 1.2% of total calories). Is your intake within this recommended amount? ____________ If you didn’t consume enough Omega-3 fatty acids, what changes could you make in your diet to increase your intake? For more information, see: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20040701/133.html .
8. Protein
(a) Choosing low-fat or lean poultry and meats is recommended as well as varying your protein sources with fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds. Discuss the amount and types of protein you typically eat. What could you do to improve your protein profile?
(a) The maximum amount of sodium you should consume is 1,500 - 2,300 mg / day. Did you exceed this amount? ______________
If you answered “yes”, what could you do to lower your sodium intake?
If “no”, what can you do to maintain your current level? This link
provides
ways to lower sodium in your diet:
http://health.rutgers.edu/factsheets/sodium.htm
(b) Referring to your “nutrient intake” printout, compare your intake with
the recommendations or acceptable range for each of the vitamins and
minerals. Were you deficient in any of the vitamins and minerals? If yes,
which ones were deficient?
(c) What foods could you consume to increase your intake of each of the
vitamins and minerals you were deficient in? (for food sources of each
vitamin and mineral, refer to:
http://www.epi.umn.edu/let/pubs/img/adol_appendix.pdf )