Diet Analysis Assignment I & II
Part I (Sections 1 8): Students will compare their food intake with the suggestions of the USDA My Plate and identify the changes that should be made to their diets.
1. Keep track of what you eat in a 24 hour time period. This should be done by writing down everything that is eaten from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed.
2. Go to the website www.mhhm.com and follow these instructions:
Log into your McGraw-Hill Connect account. This can be done by selecting using the website above or through Blackboard. If you use Blackboard, follow the directions below:
o Click tools
o Click McGraw-Hill Higher Education, this will take you to the correct page.
Select NutritionCalc Plus on the right side of the page. It may also be labeled as diet analysis tool
Click Profiles and enter your information
Click Intakes and enter the foods that you have recorded on your 24 food log. Make sure that you enter the quantity.
Click Activities and add all physical activity for the day
Click Reports
Click on MyPlate and save this page.
Then click Bar Graph Report and save this page.
3. In bullet point format (see below) compare the recommendations with your actual intake from the MyPlate page that you saved. I do not just want the numbers from the page. This is an analysis assignment, so explain why the numbers are appearing the way that they are. For example, if you are not consuming enough milk explain why you are not. Items that should be compared are:
Dairy (4 points)
Proteins (4 points)
Vegetable intake (4 points)
Fruit intake (4 points)
Grains intake (4 points)
I only want you to compare the overall target and average eaten. You do not need to compare all of the subgroups, so only the numbers that are in the colored headings.
Example: The choosemyplate website recommended that I consume 3 cups of dairy per day; however, I only consumed 2 cups. This is not typical of my diet, because I usually have a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast. The reason why I did not have cereal this morning is because I ran out of milk last night, and did not have time to go to the store to buy more.
4. In bullet point format (see below) compare the recommendations with your actual intake from the Bar Graph Report sheet that you saved. I do not just want the numbers from the page. This is an analysis assignment, so explain why the numbers are appearing the way that they are. For example, if you are not consuming enough calories, explain why you are not. The nutrients that should be compared are:
Total Calories (4 points)
Carbohydrates (% calories) (4 points)
Protein (% calories) (4 points)
Total Fat (% calories) (4 points)
Example: The Bar Graph Report recommended that 45-65% of my total calories come from carbohydrates. My carbohydrate intake was 60% of my total caloric intake. The reason why I was in the correct range is because I consumed 2 slices of whole wheat toast and an apple for breakfast. At lunch I had a tuna fish sandwich, which included two slices of whole wheat bread. At dinner I had spaghetti and garlic bread. This is typical of my diet, because I usually have toast in the morning, eat a sandwich at lunch, and eat fruit throughout the course of the day.
5. In a paragraph explain what changes you can make to your diet to better reflect the recommendations from the MyPlate and Bar Graph Report page. I want specifics! This should be a minimum of 500 words. Do not just say that you need to eat more fruits and vegetables. Explain how you will eat more fruits and vegetables, when will you incorporate them into your diet, how much you will incorporate, what you will need eliminate from the diet to make room for more fruits and vegetables. (10 points)
6. Using your own recommendations and information that you have learned in class, change your diet and reenter it into NutritionCalc Plus. The goal is to reach between 85-115% on the Bar Graph Report for all categories, excluding the following: Mono and Polyunsaturated fats, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, Omega 3 EPA, Omega 3 DHA, soluble fiber, and insoluble fiber. (15 points)
7. In a paragraph, explain any difficulties that you may have encountered as you were modifying your diet to meet all of the recommendations from the Bar Graph Report. Also, explain if these changes would be sustainable in your daily life. This should be a minimum of 500 words. (10 points)
8. This assignment must be submitted via Blackboard and must contain (in this order. In one word document) 24 hour food log, MyPlate report, MyPlate write-up, Bar Graph Report, Bar Graph write-up, paragraph explaining changes you would make, Bar Graph Report with all 85-115% status, difficulties and sustainability write-up. If items are not all submitted, and not submitted in the correct order, you will not receive credit for this section (10 points)
