The Importance of Practicing a Healthy Diet - Case Study Example

Case Study Analysis and an Action Plan Table of Contents Introduction 3 Key Diet-Related Disease Risk Factors, Including the Possible Dietary Causes and the Consequences of These to Paul’s Health 3 Current Anthropometric Indices and How These Influence His Diet-Related Disease Risk When Combined With His Current Diet 5 Action Plan 5 Conclusion 9 References 11 Appendix 14 Introduction This paper intends to explain the dietary and action plan of Paul and the associated risk factors that might affect his health in the near future, given that his dietary practices continue the way it is. Understanding the importance of practicing a healthy diet, this study will aim at recommending Paul to improve his dietary folio, which in turn will help him reduce likely consequences or risks. In accordance, the meal plan of Paul will be assessed from a critical point of view along with a theoretical underpinning to the possible dietary consequences that might be witnessed by Paul owing to such habits. An action plan as well as a summary of findings will be provided in order to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the current scenario of Paul and the recommendations as suitable to his condition. Key Diet-Related Disease Risk Factors, Including the Possible Dietary Causes and the Consequences of These to Paul’s Health As argued by many scholars, including Barker (2012), Mytton & et. al. (2012) and Gomez-Pinilla (2011) among others, unhealthy diet can impose strong negative affects to the health of the consumer causing various diseases such as blood pressure, abnormal sugar levels and heart diseases along with immunity related issues. Diet is an important contributor to maintain fitness of the body or health throughout one’s life. The first and foremost requirement of practicing a healthy diet is to have it on time and follow a firm routine for the meals in the entire day. As per the common belief and also based on proven facts, dietarians recommend that a healthy diet chart should have adequate proportion of liquids, fats and protein to help a body function properly and mitigate chances of health related issues to the highest possible extent. It is in this context that there are certain possible diet related risks, which might arise due to untimely dietary practices, such as observed in the case of Paul. For instance, Paul was observed to avoid taking breakfasts on time, sufficing only with two cups of tea and that too with a heaped spoon of sugar. Even such practices obstructs proper digestive functions of the body and thereby increases risks of obesity and falling immune system that might also be witnessed in Paul (Geneva, 2003). Notably, with his growing age, Paul is quite certain to undergo immune system deficiency whereby he shall require special focus on his dietary practices and follow the same in routine gaps. Apparently, the dietary chart taken by Paul’s is not good for the development of his health. As can be witnessed from the assessment of his meal plan, Paul’s current dietary practices show imbalances in the amount of fibre and protein that he should have been consuming (refer to the appendix). On the other hand, Paul consumes a high amount of sugar as well as fat on daily basis but at untimely intervals that might impose serious effects to his health conditions at this age (Feeney, 2014; Otten & et. al., 2006). The consequences of consuming high level of sugar are identifiable in terms of increase in weight or fat and thereafter, causing obesity. For example, alcohols are the source of consuming sugar. Therefore, Paul should avoid taking soft-drinks, alcohol and fat to reduce the high level of sugar. His body needs more water to digest his food and less consumption of sugar level food or drinks to maintain his health in a proper way or maintain the balance (Tedstone & et. al., 2014). Notably, the possible diet related diseases might be identified in terms of cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, hypertension, stroke and ischemic heart diseases among others. These all are chronic diseases, which can in turn reduce the lifespan of Paul as well. Therefore, to reduce these identified risks, Paul must make certain changes in his dietary chart not only in terms of food intake but also in terms of its timing (Key & et. al., 2004; Popkin & et. al., 2001). Current Anthropometric Indices and How These Influence His Diet-Related Disease Risk When Combined With His Current Diet Paul is a 69 years old male with a body weight of 69 kgs. His height is 1.73 m and BMI (Body Mass Index) is 23.1 as calculated. The total food intake of Paul on a regular basis averages to 9.90 kgs around. From the diet chart of Paul, it can be apparently stated that in future, his health will be affected badly, as there is no proper timing for him to take food, having high amount of fatty and heavy food at irregular gaps while remaining hungry for a major proportion of the day. This irregularity is not only quite likely to increase chances of abnormal blood pressure to Paul, but also raise digestive problems, making his liver weaker. Overall, he might have to witness increased chances of overweight or obesity, as Paul is habituated to take in high amount of fat irrespective of the fact that he is normal weighted. The risk factors of his current diet can also be identified to raise chances for cancer and heart diseases among others, which are commonly referred as major or chronic diseases of health. He also lacks adequate contain of fibre and protein that might increase risks for malnutrition to Paul besides causing problems like constipation, diverticulitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and obesity as well, as he also lacks exercise or physical activity. Sugar contains in his food also is marked at a level more than normal owing to which, he might be subjected to high blood sugar or diabetes in the later days (Menotti, 2015; Guinn & Robinson, 2014; Prentice, 2004). Therefore, with reference to the current diet chart, it can be stated that Paul needs to maintain a balance when taking food along with substantial significance to time management in his practices (Steyn & Damasceno, 2006; NIH, 2003). Action Plan Goal Criteria Time Benefit Develop proper timing for his diet Paul should be following proper gaps between his breakfast, lunch and dinner. He should also not exclude having snacks in between, but with adequate amount of fibre and protein that will help in improving his nutritional balance. Improvement is quite likely to be witnessed within a short span of time and Paul shall quit his unhealthy habits within a time duration might of two to three weeks to adjust with the new diet chart. The benefits of eating breakfast in time will help Paul to maintain his health without causing further inhibition to his BMI level to abnormality. Paul should increase fibre contains and protein in his diet At the initial stage, Paul will have to undergo digestive problems due to certain rise in his fibre and protein intake but steadily it will better his immune system. In addition, it will help him maintain a proper balance between his demanded nutrition levels and his craving for tastier foods. Improvements in his lifestyle and food intake will be apparent within two-three weeks The benefits of this goal can be witnessed in terms of reduction in the high risks for chronic diseases that Paul is witnessing and expand his life span. Increase physical activities and exercise in the daily routine of Paul Paul will have to ensure that he practices adequate physical activities, perhaps in terms of walking within his office premises or when attending office from home or in the morning. This must be done on a daily basis at a scheduled timing that will improve body fitness of Paul. However, considering his age, he should avoid getting involved in heavy physical activities. It will take nearly a month for Paul to identify the changes in his physical abilities owing to the practices of daily physical activity. The advantage of this particular activity will be to promote the development of Paul’s health and enhance his energy level so that he can get involved in various other tasks in life by increasing his metabolism rate and thereby, reducing obesity risks. Paul must consult doctors at periodic gaps to ensure that he is physically fit and is well capable of performing his daily activities With doctor consultation, Paul will be able to manage his diet effectively and efficiently, taking preventive measures within time to avoid such risks. Improvement will need at least a month duration to become apparent Achieving this goal will help Paul mitigate health issues such as hypertension and risks to his heart health as well as cancer or similar chronic illness. From an overall perspective, the following dietary recommendations can be provided to Paul. For instance, as he lacks fibre in his diet, he can have sultana bran cereal in breakfast along with orange juice. Wheat based breakfast along with some fresh fruits can also be beneficial for Paul, as low fat diet. Yogurt can also be a good option for Paul. Correspondingly, in lunch, Paul can include beans, potatoes and fresh green salad coupled with a minimum amount of cheese. One egg a day and few slices of chicken breast in a day should also be included in his diet plan. These food items will also help him to reduce sugar contents from his diet. To be mentioned, in replacement of milk tea, Paul can switch to green tea with one cube of sugar, which will suffice his sugar requirement, although avoid causing diabetic risks to the person (Dietplan, n.d.). Notably, as per his waist circumference (i.e. 92 cm), height (1.73 m) and weight (69 kg), Paul cannot be referred as obese or overweighed yet, although he possesses high risk to both these conditions, according to the British National Diet and Nutrition average (refer to the figure below). Thus, it is necessary for Paul to take immediate actions in controlling his body weight. Source: (Ashwell, 2011) Conclusion Summarising the above discussion it can be observed that Paul needs to make massive changes in his dietary practices to ensure that he is free of health risks such as cancer, obesity and other series of illnesses that might arise due to his imbalanced dietary practices. Besides effective dietary practices, Paul should bring substantial changes in his routine lifestyle, getting involved in physical activities, as revealed from the study. This in turn will help him cope with the currently witnessed illnesses or syndromes to chronic illnesses, by facilitated metabolism rate. In addition, it will also help Paul mitigate future possibilities of such diseases and expand his lifespan further. Nevertheless, Paul should consult with professional physicians in order to keep a continuous check to his health and avoid possible decline in his immune system. The summary of findings of this paper hereby reflects that Paul should follow his action plan in a proper way to maintain his health. He should also avoid such type of foods, which can be a risk factor of his health and can increase his weight, such as cheese and alcohol. References Ashwell, M., 2011. Charts Based on Body Mass Index and Waist-to-Height Ratio to Assess the Health Risks of Obesity: A Review. The Open Obesity Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 78-84. Barker, D. J. P., Developmental Origins of Chronic Disease. Public Health, Vol. 126, pp. 185-189. Dietplan, No Date. Diet Plans. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.dietplan.co.uk/DietPlans/Home [Accessed January 11, 2015]. Feeney, J. M., 2014. Breakfast—Good Nutrition throughout Life. Health Connections, Vol. 1, No. 12, pp. 1-4. Guinn, R. & Robinson, T., 2014. The Free Lunch Effect: The Value of Decoupling Diversification and Risk. Salient Capital Advisors, pp. 2- 18. Geneva, 2003. Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. World Health Organization, pp. 1-59. Gomez-Pinilla, F., 2011. The Combined Effects of Exercise and Foods in Preventing Neurological and Cognitive Disorders. Prev Med, Vol. 52, pp. S75–S80. Key, J. T. & et. al., 2004. Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer. Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 7, No. 1A, pp. 187-200. Menotti, A., 2015. Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease by Diet and Lifestyle. Current Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/7/893.full [Accessed January 8, 2015]. Mytton, O. & et. al., 2012. Taxing Unhealthy Food and Drinks to Improve Health. BMJ, Vol. 344. NIH, 2003. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, pp. 2-18. Otten, J. J. & et. al., 2006. The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. Dietary Reference Intakes, pp. 1-167. Prentice, A., 2004. Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Osteoporosis. Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 7, No. 1A, pp. 227-243. Popkin, M. B. & et. al., 2001. The Nutritional Transition and Diet-Related Chronic Diseases in Asia: Implications for Prevention. International Food Policy Research Institute, pp. 1-103. Steyn, K. & Damasceno, A., 2006. Lifestyle and Related Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases. National Center for Biotechnology Information. [Online] Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2290/ [Accessed January 8, 2015]. Tedstone, A. & et. al., 2014. Sugar reduction: Responding to the challenge. Public Health England, pp. 2-30. Appendix Read More