Eating Patterns and How to Improve Nutrition - Assignment Example

?Introduction Our eating patterns as individuals or as communities determine the nutritional value we derive from the food we eat. The dietary intakeis not directly proportional to the nutritional worth got from these foods. Observing the eating habits of a client or of a particular community group will help us determine how their eating habits are negatively impacting on their health and how to correct this. As a professional, the first thing I will get the community group I am studying which is a group of students to keep a record for a period of three days of all and any meals or snacks that they consumes through out the day. This will help in getting an accurate picture of the eating patterns they have cultivated and also the quality in terms of nutrition that they derive from the food they consume. The quality or the nutritional worth can be inferred from the food log that they will keep for at least three days after which we can start charting their eating habits and explaining the consequences of their diet and comparing what they could do differently (Edwards et al 2008) Then they can set reasonable and attainable goals that we shall go through together and set a compromise diet that will help them attain their goals. I will be interested in identifying if they eat any breakfast which is the most important meal of the day and if they do, what does it contain exactly. From this I can tell if they eat breakfast consistently or not. Then I will want to see what they take for lunch and supper and in what quantities. It will also be good to know what they take in between meals and also in what amounts. The students are mostly in their early twenties between the ages of 20 and 28. They are both male and female students and are all studying at the university. Their typical day normally starts off by waking up at between six and seven in the morning. They then take their breakfast before going to school for their lectures. In the course of the day they will eat their meals and the sample population I am studying will keep a daily log of their eating habits. Eating habits are the routine behaviors we develop and maintain over time concerning our food choices, the quantities we take and the time spans we take in between meals. Some habits and patterns the students will have will be as a result of their schedule and lifestyles and this study will help to explore this area of their lives. The method of gathering data will mostly be through interviews and through food logs that they will keep for at least three days. This will help give an insight into their eating habits and the patterns that arise from this. The main advantages to using these methods will be the directness that the face to face interviews give the researcher especially as it will look more personal and if conducted well will hive the impression of a personal touch (Ngo et al 2012). The food logs are also going to be effective in collecting a lot of information in a short time span and the accuracy of this data will be higher since it will be filled whenever one takes any meal or snack. This leaves no room to be inventive with the answers. The negatives to this approach are also evident in that the students may choose to give misrepresentative answers in filling out their food logs. They could just fill them later and skip some details in the process making the data unreliable. At the same time, personal interviews may make some respondents self conscious making those gives untrue answers about their eating habits (Stewart et al 2010). All in all the methods chosen are the most appropriate for this study and their answers will be very representative of the eating patterns of the community group being studied. Breakfast is without a doubt the most important meal of the day and as such a lot of emphasis is put on this meal. However from the records collected, the students took breakfast only when they had time to and when they did it was not well thought out with a majority choosing to take a quick juice on their way to class or skip it entirely. The females especially were more prone to skip breakfast entirely with a majority taking some form of breakfast only one time in the three days they kept a food log (Thomas et al 2008). Females skip breakfast three times more often than males, mainly because they do not have time and are not hungry in the morning (Wang et al 2010). Skipping breakfast is responsible for lower total energy intake and to make matters worse it is also one way to reduce the intake of various vital vitamins and minerals, which are then not compensated for by other nutrient intakes in the course of the rest of the day (Sharma 2010). In yet another study, it was shown people who skip breakfast are more likely to end up eating foods high in fat and sodium content, especially snacks high in fat content, which often result in higher cholesterol levels (Morrow 2009). From observing the students food logs, this is clearly confirmed as a worrying trend. Vegetables and fruits provide the most important sources for the human body to get necessary vitamins and minerals. The results from the food logs indicated that about 15.7% of the respondents were shown to eat fresh fruits daily while at the same time 65.1% were shown to eat processed fruits habitually. The students who ate fresh fruits less than one time a day were also shown to do this on more instances than once a week (35.4%). Of the students who ate fresh fruit frequently, the majority was female and the same can be said of the students who took more vegetables. The population of fresh fruit and vegetable eaters increase further if they live off campus and if they are on a higher academic level as in seniors and not fresher’s. Minerals come from vegetables and fruits and include calcium and magnesium among the major ones and zinc and fluorine among the trace elements. (Morrow 2009) They all play important roles in the body including in blood formation, bone formation and even proper brain function. They are not organic and the body can not store or synthesize most of them. So we need a constant supply of minerals and vitamins each day to stay healthy. Without enough of this minerals and vitamins, the body will not operate optimally. When it comes to drinking habits, water, soda, milk, and juice were the four most common beverages consumed as a matter of drinking habits cultivated by the students drawn in in this study. The Students indicated the regularity with which they consumed their drinks of choice daily. The results indicated that the biggest percentage of students consumed water at (84%) followed by juice at (84.7%) daily. This was followed by milk at (38%) and soda at (50.5%). Although water does not give us energy it is the most important nutrient. We may be able to live on without the others for weeks, but we cannot go on without water for more than a few days. It is vital that we appreciate the value of fluids or water in our bodies since water plays many vital roles in our bodies. Not only does it help to break down food but it also helps cool down the body when it is too hot. When the body needs to get rid of waste products, it does so by having the waste in a watery solution state that is easy to move out of the body. Daily, the body requires about 2 –3 liters of water daily. This water is got from the water and liquids we ingest as well as from fruits, vegetables and from other food material we take in. (London Health Unit 2009) Some students in the study were shown to skip one of meal. They skipped either breakfast, lunch or had no dinner. The average number of meals that was eaten daily is fractionally higher for male students as opposed to the females. Carbohydrates provide the main sources of energy for our body to run on. At the same time, sugars and starches contain carbohydrates as well. Sugar being a simple carbohydrate, gives the body energy very fast. This energy can then be got from honey, syrup, jams and jelly and also from dairy products. These starches then must also be broken down to give simpler sugars which the body can then use. Starches are to be found in bread, potatoes, beans, corn, pasta, peas, cereals and potatoes. They can be credited with supplying our body with the energy supply that we need constantly to stay alive. At the same time we should not forget that proteins are responsible for providing the building blocks for our body to produce skin, muscle and even hair. Proteins are available in meat, fish, eggs, beans, milk and also in nuts and peas. The human body can make some of these proteins through synthesis but the bulk of them have to come from the dietary daily intakes. (Strazzullo 2009)When it came to cooking their own food, it was shown that the female students were more likely to cook their own food than the male students. It is also true that more than half the student population ate food prepared from a restaurant or ordered take out food. Most students tend to take dinner as their most important meal of the day in spite of wide knowledge to the contrary. They make a great effort not to skip dinner but are not too particular about missing breakfast and lunch. According to many sources it has been established that breakfast is one of the most important health habits that are the most important in terms of meals for the day (Courtney et al 2011). Breakfast also provides various important vitamins and minerals. It also contributes greatly to the total energy which is vital to the long term health and also to the overall well-being of those that consume breakfast (Sharma 2010). Conclusion The students need to observe a few guidelines to improve their eating patterns which would raise their nutritional values for the foods they eat. To start with if they can avoid foods that add to their weight, then they can avoid the pitfalls of obesity which leads to many health complications. Secondly if the students were to exercise regularly since most did not make any time for this, then they could burn off calories and fats that they do not need in their bodies. This is for the overweight population of students. Third, eating too much salt which is available in the processed foods they prefer is not good for their health since it leads to high blood pressure and other complications. Fourth, too much intake of sugar is harmful especially processed sugar present in the snacks and packed drinks common among the students, because it leads to health issues as it only has a lot of calories but no nutrients. Fifth, the foods the students ate tend to contain saturated fats and are high in cholesterol which is not advisable. The foods they choose should also be high in fiber as it is good for the body to function better during digestion. Another very common activity among students is high alcohol intake which is not wise since alcoholic drinks may contain lots of calories but usually have no nutrients. Finally it is advisable to cook their own food since then they can ensure they cook the food well and preserve its nutrients and hence the nutritional value (Strazullo et al 2009). Our results would then suggest that there is a need to improve what the student’s know about nutrition. It becomes very important especially because many diseases can be avoided if we change nutritional habits however mundane this may look. 3 day food log results for a typical male student Monday Start the week with early lecture. No time for breakfast Lecture ends, meet friends for lunch. Take a burger and a coke Spend the afternoon writing up notes and make a light TV supper. Drank a coke as I watched a sit com Tuesday Relaxed start to the day, with cereal & milk bought from cafe across the street Meet the project group in 4W Cafe over a cappuccino, a muffin and an apple Off to the library to research the project. Head over to the Parade Bar for the house burger and a beer. Get home drank a ? liter bottle of water Wednesday It’s Sports Day, hot breakfast at 4W Cafe bacon roll & coffee There's time to head home for a light snack before Hockey had eggs and bacon. Post game down time in the Sports Cafe and feed on pasta bolognaise. Relax at home with a pineapple juice carton before bed Daily food log given to the students to fill for only three days References Sharma, S. (2010). Assessing diet and lifestyle in the Canadian Arctic Inuit and Inuvialuit to inform a nutrition and physical activity intervention programme. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. UK. Courtney, Newnham, Jennifer, Irwin, Don Morrow, D (2011). The quantitative assessment of Motivational Interviewing using Co-active Life Coaching Skills as an intervention for adults struggling with obesity. International Coaching Psychology Review. The British Psychological Society. School Food Trust. (2008). A Guide to Introducing the Government’s New Food-Based Standards for All School Food Other than Lunches. Sheffield: School Food Trust. London Health Unit. (2009). Three-day food record.Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Team: Middlesex. Morrow, D. (2009). Annotated bibliography of life coaching and health research. International Journal of Evidence-Based Coaching and Mentoring. Strazzullo, D’Elia, Kandala, Cappuccio, F. (2009). Salt intake, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Meta-analysis of prospective studies: British Medical Journal. Edwards, SA and Meiselman, H. (2008).Changes in dietary habits during the first year at university. British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin Thomas, A, Moseley, G, Stallings, Nichols-English, Wagner, P. (2008). Perceptions of obesity: black and White differences. Stewart, S, Evans, J, and Patterson, J. (2010). The Health of Students in institutions of higher education: an important and neglected public health problem. Journal of Public Health Medicine. Swami, V, Airs, Chouhan, Leon, M.A.P. & Towell, T. (2009). Are there ethnic differences in positive body image among female British undergraduates?. Wang, X, You, Lenchik, L. & Nicklas, B. (2010). Resting energy expenditure changes with weight loss: racial differences. Obesity Ngo, J, Gurinovic, Frost, Serra, L. (2009). How dietary intake methodology is adapted for use in European student population groups Read More