Nutrition Analysis Project Robin Hernandez California State University, San Bernardino HSCL 365 - Dr. Chen-Maynard March 15, 2012
1. A) Personal Background: Summary of Findings Name: Pregnancy: Robin S. Hernandez (Self) 32 weeks pregnant at time of analysis. Recommended Pregnancy Weight Gain: 25-35 lbs. Sex: Female Height: 5 2 Weight: 146 lbs. Pre-Pregnancy Weight: 110 lbs. Age: 28 yrs. Old Pre-Pregnancy BMI: 20 BMI Interpretation: Subject s pre-pregnancy BMI was on the low end of normal. For this BMI, Nutrition Through the Life Cycle recommends a total pregnancy weight gain of 25-35 lbs. The subject has already reached the maximum 35 lbs. weight gain limit. It is not however recommended to try to lose weight while pregnant. Steps should only be taken to slow the weight gain for the remainder of the pregnancy. B) Family Medical History: Type 1Diabetes- High Cholesterol- Hypothyroidism- Grandmother, (mother s side) Grandmother, Uncle, Cousin, (father s side) Mother, Aunts, Grandmother s (both sides) The subject has a genetic predisposition to each of these diseases. The subject should continue to monitor diet and focus on maintaining a healthy weight to avoid Diabetes. High cholesterol is of particular concern because so many family members have it and it can lead to plaque build up and heart disease.
C) Summary of Diet Analysis: I.) Energy Balance- The caloric intake for this subject is showing as low. However, there has been an appropriate amount of weight gain throughout the pregnancy despite the low reading of calories and energy expenditure from exercise. This leads me to believe that the subject is either consuming more calories than she listed, or that the food tracker program is not listing foods at a high enough caloric value. The physical activity report shows a total of 1571 kcals expended for the day. This combined with the fact that 1863 kcals were consumed leaves her with a positive caloric intake of 292 kcals. I find this balance to be appropriate considering the stage of pregnancy she is in and the weight that still needs to be gained. II) Macronutrient intake- Carbohydrates make up 48-52% of energy intake, proteins make up 15-17% of energy intake and fats make up 33% of intake. Overall this is a good ratio for this subject and should be maintained. The fat intake is slightly high however and the energy balance could be improved by lowering this percentage to below 30%. The ratio of carbohydrate intake shows that although the correct amount of carbohydrate is being consumed, whole grains intake is low and refined grains intake is too high. Dietary fiber intake is in the low end of appropriate ranges, so improvement could be made in this area. The ratio of fat breakdown is appropriate, however the percentage of saturated fats consumed is 2% higher than recommended amounts and should ideally be lowered to under 10% of total calories. This is probably due to the intake of cookies, cupcakes and cooking with
butter. III) Micronutrients- Cholesterol intake is too high for this individual. This is of particular concern because of the subjects family history of high cholesterol. The high cholesterol is due to intake of multiple dairy products per day. Sodium intake is also too high due to processed foods like dressings and take out food with added salt like chicken salad, beans and rice. However, according to Nutrition Through the Life Cycle, sodium restriction is not recommended because of the complications associated with pregnancy that it can bring. The subject also has low blood pressure, so the higher levels of sodium at this time do not appear to be affecting her negatively at this time. Vitamin D is listed as too low, but I think this not the case because the milk and orange juice the subjects drinks are fortified with Vitamin D, not to mention the fact that she lives in southern California sunshine. The food tracker program does not account for these things so I am not concerned about her Vitamin D levels at this time. Folate is listed as high, but according to Nutrition Through the Life Cycle, 1000 mcg is the upper limit for folate supplements. The subject is receiving an average of 1000 mcg of folate from foods, which there is no upper limit for. Because of the importance of this micronutrient during pregnancy to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, I don t think any steps need to be taken to lower folate at this time. IV) Fiber- The subject s fiber intake is an average of 26 mg/ day which is on the low end of the recommended ranges. Therefore, it wouldn t be a bad thing for her
to increase her fiber intake a little bit. 2. My Pyramid Stats- According to the Food Groups and Calories Report, all of the food groups are listed as low. They are all proportional and in balance to one another however, so I believe that they are all listed as low because of the calculation of fewer calories consumed. However, the empty calorie/ discretionary calorie consumption is a little on the high side. If these calories were instead consumed evenly over the food groups, the intake levels would be closer to the recommended ranges. 3. Physical Activity- The subject is getting the recommended amount of exercise for a pregnant woman. So therefore, because she is not consuming an excess of calories, and is maintaining a proper weight, I am going to make the assumption that her energy ratio is in balance. 4. Supplements- The subject takes prenatal vitamins, and 2000mg of Omega-3 s and 26mg of Iron daily as per doctor s recommendations. These supplements will help make up for some of the vitamins and minerals that she is under on. D) Recommendations: 1. Increase intake of whole grains and decrease intake of refined grains. Replace white rice with brown and traditional pastas with whole wheat pastas. 2. Increase fiber intake by eating more vegetables. Dark leafy greens as lacking so add a serving of these to dinner three to four times a week. 3. Increase servings of fruit by ¾ cup. Have a glass of orange juice with breakfast.
4. Decrease saturated fat consumption. Cook with more olive oil instead of butter. Limit cheese consumption, or choose low-fat or non-fat options. 5. Decrease cholesterol intake. Cut down egg consumption to two per week and alternate skim milk with soy or almond milk. Eat more beans and legumes as sources of protein in exchange for high cholesterol meats a couple nights a week. 6. Increase Iron intake. Continue to take prenatal supplements which include iron. 7. Decrease intake of empty sugary calories like cookies and replace with fruit instead. 8. Decrease intake of fatty foods like cookies and cupcakes and replace with more whole grains to maximize fiber and nutrient intake. 9. Watch sodium intake by reducing amount of processed foods in diet.
Reflective Statement This assignment helped me to look at the whole picture for a subject when making a dietary analysis. It was long and time consuming to input every single food in order to create the reports needed to assess nutrient levels and energy balance. I enjoyed doing the calculations to find the percentages of each nutrient consumed. This helped me to gain a better perspective. The USDA website at times was great to work with, like when printing out the nutrient analysis. This is a great tool that would otherwise take hours to calculate. At other times however, I found the website frustrating. There were some glitches that frequently kept me from moving forward, and forced me to re-do a lot of my entries. I also thought the food list was somewhat limiting at times. The choices of foods to choose from on the MyPyramid version was broader I think. Because of this, I have doubts about the accuracy of some of the vitamin and nutrient values listed in the reports. The other thing I would like to have seen on this website was the ability to input vitamin and mineral supplements. I believe this would have also helped to gain a more accurate picture of a subjects health. Overall, this project was good practice for calculations, analysis and recommendations.
References Brown, Judith E.. Nutrition through the life cycle. 4th ed, international ed. Pacific Grove, Calif.: Brooks/Cole ;, 2010. Print. "USDA My Plate." Super Tracker. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <https://www.choosemyplate.gov>