Health Behavior Analysis Project

The HBA project is an exploration of your personal health and nutrition status based on foods you consume, your daily physical activity, and your personal and current body measurements at a certain snapshot in time.

You will conduct this project in a Scientific Method framework.  You will use the following tools to collect your BaselineMeasurement Data described in the project: Nutrition Analysis, Physical Activity Survey and Personal Anthropometry Assessment.

Nutrition Analysis (Dietary Intake) – Choose 3 Days you will use to record your dietary intake on the enclosed forms. This must include one weekend, and 2 weekdays. Study the measurement techniques first so that you are better able to accurately record intake. Consider using tools such as your smart phone, small notepad or other recording device that you can have with you at all times as our memories can often change the detail if we delay.

Physical Activity Survey – This section will be divided into 2 areas. 1) Record any formal activity you participate in. This might include dance class, soccer practice, your time working out in the gym or outside of the gym          2). This area consists of general activities of daily living or, activities you might not consider as “exercise” but is never the less important to your overall health. These could include walking from the “el” rather that riding the bus, vacuuming at home, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, shoveling snow from your sidewalk etc., Bet you didn’t think this could matter!

Personal Anthropometry – using the worksheet, record all measurements: height, weight, abdominal girth and hips at widest point.  You will also calculate your BMI. Please be assured that this information will not be shared and that honesty is the best policy!

Dietary Intake Instructions:

·      Keep food records for 3 consecutive days (15 pts)

1. Include 1 weekend day.  The goal is for the records to represent your usual eating habits.
2. Record EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth including water and small tastings
3. Record the time that you eat or drink.  Write it down immediately. Consider using tools such as your smart phone, small notepad or other recording device that you can have with you at all times.  Don’t trust your memory!
4. Record the amount of each item
5. Record how it was prepared (baked, fried, roasted) and any additives/sauces (mayonnaise, butter, salad dressing)
6. Use the Hunger/Fullness Scale to record your level of fullness.   

• Estimating Portions

1. Important for making your analysis accurate.  Actual measurements are the best: use a measuring cup or food scale.
2. Read labels and estimate the portion of food you consumed to the nearest ounce, cup, tablespoon,

or other common measure.

1. If you need to estimate, here are some tips:

• Analyze your diet using “SuperTracker” on the http://www.choosemyplate.gov website-
• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/supertracker.html
• Follow the instructions and input your recorded intakes for the 3 days
• MyPlate illustrates the 5 food groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet:
• Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, & Dairy
• Once you’ve input your information into “SuperTracker” generate the following reports using the averages from your three days of intake. The averages can be found following the reports for individual days 1-3. Print the following reports with the data from the averages of your three days:
• Food Groups & Calories Report
• Nutrients Reports
• Meal Summary Report
• Finally, use these reports as well as MyPlate as a comparison to answer the questions included on the page below. Most of the answers to these questions can be found by examining the reports. (25pts)

To summarize, Part 1 should include the following:

• The above 3 reports from “SuperTracker” (25pts)
• Personal three day food diary (15pts)
• Physical Activity Worksheet (5 pts)
• Personal Anthropometry Worksheet (5 pts)

SELF-STUDY QUESTIONS FOR PART 2

Use the 3 reports to answer the following questions

·      You should submit the 3 reports with the following nutrient critiques.

·      Answer the Conclusion/Discussion questions.

Fruits & Vegetables

1. How does your 3 day average for fruit and vegetableintake compare to the goals set forth by “My Plan”?  How does your carbohydrate intake compare to the recommendation of 45-65% of calories coming from carbohydrates? (hint: refer to “nutrients reports”)  (5 pts)

2.  Does your “Grain” intake meet the recommendations set forth by “My Plan”?  Do you meet your target for “whole grains” and “refined grains”?  How does your “dietary fiber” intake compare to the recommended “target” fiber intake? (hint: find out your fiber intake by looking on “nutrient reports”).  If it does, list which foods you ate that contributed to your fiber intake.  If it did not, name 2 foods you could eat to increase your consumption of dietary fiber? (5 pts)

Lipids

1.  How does your “total fat” intake compare to the recommendation of 20-35% of calories should come from fat? (hint: refer to “nutrients reports”). Name 3 foods that you ate that contributed the most to your fat intake. (5 pts)

2.  How does your saturated fat intake compare to the recommendation of <10% of calories? (hint: refer to nutrient reports)   List 2 foods that you ate that contained saturated fats and state the actual amount of saturated fat that the foods contain. (Hint: if the sat fat is not listed in your report, google it) (5pts)

3.  How does your daily cholesterol intake compare with the suggested limit of <300 mg/day? (hint: refer to “nutrients report”)   (2 pts)  Name 1 food you ate that contributed the most to your cholesterol intake.

Protein

1. How does your 3 day average of protein foods compare to the goals set forth by “My Plan”?  Comment on the types of protein foods you consumed (i.e. Seafood group, Meat, poultry and eggs group, or Nuts, seeds & soy group) which group did you consume the most of?  How does your protein intake compare to the recommendation that 10-35% of total kcals in your diet should come from protein? List 2 foods that contributed the most to your protein intake (6pts)

2.    Give an example of an animal protein and a non-meat protein source.(2pts)

Conclusion/Discussion Questions (20 points)

1. Describe your experience keeping food records. Did you think it was an easy or difficult task?  How beneficial do you think it would be for someone who is trying to make eating behavior changes to keep food records?  Do you think that the majority of people would be compliant to this task? (2 pts)
2. Did you only eat when you were hungry?  Did you eat at times when you felt full?  What do you think may have contributed to when you ate other than being hungry?  Did you find that you ate larger portions when you went longer periods of time without eating?  Can you identify any patterns of eating based on your hunger level? (2 pts)   

3.   How many “Empty Calories” did you have? (hint: refer to “Food Groups & Calories Report”).  These are  foods  that provide little to no nutrition other than the sugar or fat.  Of those empty calories, how many came from “solid fats” and “added sugars”?  List 3 foods that you ate that contributed to these empty calories. If you consumed the “recommended amount”…Good for You!!!  (3 pts)

4.   Calculate the percentage of your calories coming from “added sugars”.  The American Heart Association suggests adult women should get not more than 5 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per day, adult men shouldn’t get more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) of added sugars per day.  How do you compare? (3 pts)

5.  How much sodium do you take in over the 3 day average?  How does that compare to the recommendation to keep sodium intake at < 2300 mg/day? List 3 foods that contributed the most to your sodium intake and    state the actual amount of sodium in those foods. (2pts) 

6.  How does your activity level compare to guidelines set forth by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)?  (see chart in Ch 14 book).  Comment on the specifics of the recommendations given and how they compare to your activities.  Evaluate your “overall” activity levels.  Are you physically active most days of the week? (2 pts)

7.  Is your waist circumference below the “high-risk” waist circumference of 40” for a male and 35” for a      female? (1 pts)

8.  Does your BMI fall in the underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese category?  Comment on your findings.  If your BMI does not fall in the “healthy” category what would be an appropriate “goal weight” based on the BMI chart? (1 pts)

9.  List 4 specific and measurable goals/things you can do to improve your overall eating and/or exercise habits based on the results from the assignment above? (4 pts)

To summarize, Part 2 (due 4/21/15) should include typed up answers to all the following questions. The answers to a majority of the questions can be found from a comparison of your personal “SuperTracker” reports and MyPlate.