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1.E: Nutrition and You (Exercises)

  • Page ID
    1823
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    It’s Your Turn

    1. You are writing a short article for the Daily News. Explain how health means much more than a mere absence of disease.
    2. Create a table that summarizes the six classes of nutrients and their major functions.
    3. List five ideas on how to change the nutrition of Americans to protect their health and the health of the planet.
    4. Draw a diagram that shows the role that nutrition plays in human health.
    5. Write three ways in which cultural, religious, and social values affect dietary eating patterns.
    6. Compare and contrast the Nutrition Facts label on two of your favorite foods. Make a smart choice for eating the most nutrient-dense food option. Which food did you select and why?

    Apply It

    1. Explore the nutritional and health information provided by the USDA, the HSS, and the IOM. Make a pros and cons list on how helpful the information from each of these sources was to you.
    2. Revisit the photographs of the inner contents of refrigerators by Mark Menjivar. Describe how factors associated with a person’s environment, lifestyle, and culture may affect the personal food choices in at least six different refrigerators.
    3. Write a paragraph on your opinion of the role of the federal government in promoting health and preventing disease in Americans.
    4. You have been hired to write a two-page article for a weekly magazine about why nutrition is important to health. Using simple terms and a good supply of photographs, create your article. Be prepared to share your project with the class.
    5. Record a food diary this week. At the end of the week, circle the foods that contain SoFAS. Next, to each food, write a substitute food to replace it. Record a food diary next week. Be sure to eat the substitute foods you have selected to replace the foods that contained the SoFAS.
    6. Search the Internet for sites that claim to give you nutritional advice. Check to see who sponsors the sites and if the site is trying to sell you a product or service. Compare the information found on the sites to those recommended in this text. What similarities do you notice? What differences do you notice?

    Expand Your Knowledge

    1. Conduct an assessment of your diet. Begin by recording what you eat every day, including snacks and beverages, in a journal. Then visit the website, www.choosemyplate.gov/myplate/index.aspx, which has tools to help you assess your diet. Calculate your average daily calorie consumption.
    2. Conduct an informal survey of five of your friends and family members. Create a questionnaire with ten to fifteen questions pertaining to their perception of food, their favorite food shows, what restaurants they frequent, what they purchase from the grocery store each week, etc. Ask questions about their general eating habits and record the answers. Next, get a camera and take pictures of the insides of their refrigerators. What have you learned about their eating habits? What advice would you give them? Review all the material and put it together in a report. Be prepared to share your findings.
    3. Define eight steps your community can take to build a more sustainable food system. Visit the websites of Toronto’s and California’s plans to help provide you with some good ideas to accomplish the challenge.

    • Toronto’s plan for a sustainable food system: wx.toronto.ca/inter/health/food.nsf/Resources/340ACEEDBF1B2D6085257738000B22F2/$file/Cultivating%20Food%20Connections%20report.pdf
    • California’s plan for a sustainable food system: http://www.vividpicture.net/
    1. You have just been hired at the local Boys and Girls club in an inner city neighborhood that happens to have a large high school drop-out rate. You have been put in charge of creating physical and nutritional opportunities for the community. Your goal for the first quarter is to enroll one hundred students in an exercise/nutrition program. You must develop two programs.

      • Define each program and state its objectives
      • Describe the ways in which the program will benefit participants
      • List ways in which you will encourage enrollment
      • Create a marketing flyer for each program
    2. You are planning a big meal for a surprise graduation party for your friend. You expect fifty guests to attend. Using the information you have learned regarding healthy eating and food portions, plan a healthful meal. Determine how much protein, vegetables, fruits, and starch you will need to purchase to feed everyone comfortably. Write down a detailed list so that you can shop and prepare your budget accordingly. Share your results with the class.
    3. You are a Registered Dietitian who has been asked to help a vegan patient adjust their eating habits to get more nutrients from their diet and halt unwanted weight loss. Develop a week’s worth of meals to help this person have balance in their diet.

    1.E: Nutrition and You (Exercises) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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