Good Essay About Nutrition

AbstractThe key to healthy eating lies in eating right and in moderation. It is okay to indulge in sinful eating at times, but one should watch as to what they place on their plates. One should feel satisfied after a meal and not stuffed. Develop a diet plan and a lifestyle that is just ideal for you according to your age, gender, and occupation. Refined sugar, processed foods, and saturated fats should get replaced with more of fresh fruit and vegetables. The paper looks at the risk factors of an unhealthy diet and making the right food plan and evaluates the diet plan of Austin.

Introduction

Getting the right nutrition, healthy diet and being healthy is not about depriving yourself of the foods you love or following strict dietary limitations. If planning to follow a healthy diet, it is much better to take small steps rather take a giant leap in that direction. If those changes are made gradually, it is easier for one and their body to adapt to those changes. The goal of healthy eating and a nutritious diet need not be a tough subject. The refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and saturated fats make for unhealthy choices and lead to obesity. The healthy choices should include more of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and lesser use of oil and fats.
The body during the growing years, when it enters teenage, demands certain nutritional requirements. Teenagers carry different nutrition needs during different age brackets and the requirement of a thirteen-year-old may differ from an 18-year-old. Nutritional needs also differ by gender (Wolfenden, 2011).

Nutrition self-Analysis

When looking at Austin’s diet, and looking at her meals during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and comparing the caloric intake on all the seven days, her average calories intake every day remains around 1700 calories. The teenage years show developmental changes and depending on age group, the gender, and physical activity, different age groups vary widely in their calorie needs (Nutrition for Your Teen, 2015).

BMI

The Body Mass Index is related to your height and weight and the fat on the body. Assuming that Austin is almost an adult or falls in the age bracket of 19-20 years old and is normal in weight her BMI should lie in the range of 24 – 26. A BMI lower would mean one is underweight, and a higher BMI would mean one is overweight. BMI get calculated by dividing the body weight by height.

BMR

The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the energy used by the body when it is resting and what it needs to perform the bodily functions, like providing energy for your liver, kidneys, heart, lungs, muscles and skin. The BMR depends on age, height and weight. Men have a higher BMR as compared to women and the BMR in children is higher than the adults.
As an 18 or 19-year old girl, she has a BMR of nearly 1,400 calories a day. Austin can change her BMR by changing diet to consume lower calories and raising metabolism by exercising to burn calories more quickly. Scientifically designed diet plans can help one to keep up the right BMR (Measuring Energy in a Personal Way, 2015).

Risk Factors

With greater affluence and urbanization, and popularity of fast food habits, inappropriate diets are increasingly becoming prevalent. Diets are getting richer in saturated fats, refined carbohydrates, and salt and have less of fiber and complex carbohydrates. It is no surprise to see the rise in ailments like diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, some cancers, thus increasing burden on health care costs (Plan of Action for Nutrition, 2015). The life expectancy gets shortened due to those life threatening ailments.

Food Plan Guide

Austin’s choice of breakfast is healthy, and she can maintain that throughout the week. Peanut butter/Jelly has sugar, but the combination offers B vitamins, iron, protein, and zinc and is a healthy unsaturated fat. However, on Sunday, she has three pancakes and bacon omelet on Saturday that raises the calorie count.
At lunch too, she should keep the calorie intake lower than 500 calories. Her choice of Yang Chow Beef Fried Rice and pepperoni pizza are not healthy.
Dinners should be light, but Austin seems to consume even higher calories during those meal hours. It is only on two days that we find her eating light, when she has Homemade Chili with cheese or Homemade Salad with Ranch dressing. Her other choices for dinner time like Fried Plantain, pasta, Chicken Broccoli Alfredo, Applebees: Mac n cheese are only loading the dinner plate with calories. It is good that she is able to introduce fruits and juices in her diets. However, she should try to drink fresh fruit juices instead of canned juice.

Activity Level

In order to improve health, Austin should get involved with three types of physical activities that should cover muscle-strengthening, aerobic and bone-strengthening. She should include at least half an hour of physical activity daily. She can walk to her college, join a sport, go swimming, play tennis for muscle-strengthening or sit-ups, press-ups etc. She should skip a rope, walk, go jogging or running to strength bones.
Recent studies reflect that majority of adolescents are not able to achieve that minimum level of moderate physical activity of exercising at least for thirty minutes a day. One should keep a watch over the time spent in front of TV or playing computer games. The younger generation that fails to maintain adequate amounts of exercise continues the trend into adulthood. One should act immediately and take care of their health, nutrition and lifestyle so as to remain healthy at later stage in life.

Demographics

Despite significant progress made in recent decades on food and nutrition, millions of people, especially in South Asia, Africa and Latin America are not able to meet their daily needs for energy and protein. Lack of the right nutrition and essential vitamins and minerals can lead to health risks and disabilities such as blindness. Many countries have taken steps to strengthen education and spread awareness regarding food, nutrition and health. However, needs and problems differ from country to country (Plan of Action for Nutrition, 2015).
While malnutrition is the issue with the underdeveloped countries, taking the wrong nutrition is the issue with the rich and developed countries. The easy access to food should not affect dietary intake. Careful considerations should be taken when looking at dietary diversity and healthy eating habits to improve dietary nutrition and how food is prepared.

Social eating

Being in college and in that age group would mean lots of socializing and eating out. One should keep a watch over what they eat, especially when one tends to ignore on what is on their plate in company of friends and often overeat. There are always healthy choices available on the menu. Austin’s’ calorie intake is slightly higher than her requirement. She need to get het BHI and BMR scores to make exact calculations. Late-night eating is getting common and easy accessibly to fast foods is another reason for their popularity. The rising obesity is a social problem and should not be seen as a failure of willpower. The younger generation are influenced by their friends, peers, and surroundings.

Health requirements and Routines

Teens and young adolescents are known to live sedentary lives and they spend most of the time in front of computers and watching TV. Poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are the major cause of obesity. Majority of the teenagers experience weight gain during this decade of life and the dietary choices and lifestyle habits they establish now influences their future health. They should get support from schools and parents to maintain healthy lifestyles and make careful dietary choices (McNeely & Blanchard, 2015).
The lifestyle choices made during the teen and young adolescent years are sure to impact the future health. If one does not consume fruits and vegetables, they are not getting vitamins, calcium, iron or minerals that are very essential for healthy development. If their diet is made of high- calorie foods, they are only adding to the risks for obesity and attracting life threatening diseases. However, one can get adequate nutrition by combining physical activity and a healthful diet, and lower the risks of obesity. Regular counseling and physical activity can change things for better.

Conclusion

How many calories one needs depends on a number of factors such as gender, age, height, weight, activity level, etc. Looking at Austin’s diets chart and studying her caloric intake, and assuming that she has a moderately active lifestyle, her caloric intake is within the guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With moderate exercise, Austin needs 2,000 to 2,200 calories a day, and her maximum caloric intake is 1740 calories. However, her BMR and BMI too need to be considered to make precise calculations.
Following a good nutrition means eating a balanced diet while poor nutrition can lead to a number of health problems. Making healthy food choices and following right nutrition not only helps you provide your body with the right nutrition, but it means health for the whole family and optimum wellbeing. One lowers the risks of diseases like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and certain cancers. Right nutrition and health also mean keeping good relationships with family, friends and the environment.

References

McNeely, C., & Blanchard, J. (2015). Obesity: Nutrition and Exercise. The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development, 1(1), 1-4Nutrition for Your Teen: Ages 13 through 18 Years. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.lancastergeneralhealth.org/LGH/ECommerceSite/media/LGH-Media- Library/Documents/Services/Service Lines/Healthy Weight Management/Fact Sheets/Nutrition-13-18-Years.pdf
Plan of Action for Nutrition. (2015). FAO Corporate Document Repostiry. Measuring Energy in a Personal Way With Our Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.ab-solutely-fit.com/basal-metabolic-rate-calculator.html
Wolfenden, E. (2011). Daily Nutritional Requirements for Teens. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/519883-daily-nutritional-requirements-for-teens/