NUR1120: Food Diary Analysis and Reflection on Dietary Guidelines

This report presents an analysis of a 3-day food and beverage diary, reflecting on the student's dietary habits in relation to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The analysis identifies areas where the student's diet aligns with or deviates from the recommended guidelines, particularly regarding fruit and vegetable consumption, saturated fat intake, and sugar consumption from soft drinks. The report also addresses the social determinants of health and their influence on dietary choices. The student reflects on their personal dietary habits, identifies areas for improvement, and proposes specific changes to align their diet more closely with the recommended guidelines, including increasing fruit and vegetable intake, replacing unhealthy snacks with healthier alternatives, and substituting sugary drinks with water and detoxifying beverages. The assignment concludes with a discussion of the social gradient in health and its implications for individual well-being, highlighting the impact of socioeconomic factors and social experiences on health outcomes.

Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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Section A
A1.
Time Food/Beverage (includes
water)
Amount Comments
Day 1
Breakfast Muesli + milk + egg +
banana
Muesli (1 bowl)
+ milk (250 ml)
+ 1 egg + 1
banana
Healthy
Lunch Brown rice + Lean meats +
yoghurt
Brown rice (1
bowl) + Lean
meats (200
grams) +
yoghurt (1 bowl)
Healthy
Evening
Supper
Medium sized chicken
Pizza + cold drinks
1 Pizza
300 ml cold
drinks
High fat food
Dinner Noddles Noodles (1
bowl)
Spicy food
Round the
clock
Water 3 litres Adequate
Day 2
Breakfast Bread + Butter + Boiled
egg + Water melon
Bread: 2 pieces Polysaturated or monosaturated fat

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Butter: 25 grams
Egg: 1
Water melon: 2
pieces
(butter)
Lunch Commercial burger + coke Burger: 1 and 1
250 ml cold
drinks
High fat food + Aerated drinks with
sugar
Evening
Supper
Pastry 1 High sugar content food
Dinner Rice + Fish Rice = 1 bowl
Fish= 200 grams
Healthy food
Round the
clock
Water 3 litres Adequate
Day 3
Breakfast Wheat flakes with yoghurt Wheat flakes =
1 bowl
Yoghurt = 200
grams
Healthy food
Lunch Mix veg + rice + tofu fish Mix veg = 1
bowl (1 serve)
Rice= 1 bowl
Tofu fish = 2
piece
Healthy food
Evening
Supper
Cakes 1 High sugar food

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Dinner Cheese Sandwich 1 High fat food
Round the
clock
Water 3 litres Adequate
A2.
At my age (25 years) I am required to consume at least 5 serves of vegetables every day.
According to Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), half cup of cooked vegetables like
hot potato chips do not count. Here 5 serves of vegetables means half cup of cooked vegetables
along with 1 cup of salad is required. The young adults are required to consume at least 2 serves
of fruits per day. Under this 2 serve, 1 serve constitute 1 medium piece fruit or 2 small pieces of
fruits and another cup of chopped or canned fruits. However, food with added sugar is not
suitable for the diet (Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary, 2013).
A3.
Via reflecting on my diet plan, it can be stated that I failed to abide by the Australian
dietary guidelines. According to Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), (guideline 3),
One should limit the intake of high saturated fats like cakes, pastries, commercial burgers, pizza
and other savoury snacks. The reason behind this restriction is, consumption of high fat
containing food during the early stage of life is associated with increases in susceptibility of
obesity, cardiovascular disease along with unhealthy lifestyle patterns (Hartmann, Siegrist & van
der Horst, 2013). Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), is of the opinion that such
high fat content food must be replace with saturated fats like butter, cooking margarine and palm

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oil which is rich in polysaturated and monosaturated fats along with fruits and green vegetables.
According to De Souza et al. (2015), in comparison to the high fat diet, fruits and vegetables is
associated with the negligeable risk of development of the cardiovascular disease along with
other complications like type 2 diabetes and ischemic stroke.
I also failed to limit the intake of soft drinks as proposed by Australian Dietary
Guidelines Summary (2013). Consumption of aerated drinks caused increases in the
susceptibility towards weight gain. Moreover, consumption of aerated drinks containing sugar at
night causes sleep disruption which is further inter-related with stress and other associated
illness.
I am planning to replace my burger and high fat diet with fruit salads and mix vegetables
soup and in case of aerated drinks; I will replace it with plain water or water. Such that, my water
content in the body remain balanced while reducing the intake of aerated drinks.
Section B
On completing the quiz from Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), my score is
6. This denotes that I am not consuming a very healthy diet, and that there is an urgent need of
making considerable improvement in the dietary consumption. Based on my present food
consumption and reflecting on the dietary guidelines, it would be advisable to bring two changes
into the diet.
Firstly, I need to include more fruits into my diet that a rich source of minerals, vitamins
and fiber. Most fruits are low on energy and thus combat weight gain. These would help me

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protecting against chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease and some forms of cancer. The
scientific evidence of the health benefits of consuming fruits is rich and it has been strengthened
through years. The common fruits that I need to include in my diet are broccoli, spinach,
cucumber, lemon, watermelon, banana, orange, apple and peach (ten Cate et al., 2016).
In place of cold drinks I need to consume fresh fruit juices and detoxifying drinks that
would help me in maintaining a healthy body weight through proper nutrient intake. Fruit juices
have been known to provide energy but they might be lacking fiber at some cases. Detoxifying
drinks are beneficial for removing the toxins from the body. In addition, the metabolism rate of
the body is increased significantly thereby enhancing the health status. Such drinks would be
useful for reducing inflammation of the body and boosting energy. Digestion would also be
enhanced through such drinks. Further, the liver would be cleansed and healthy skin would be
evident. The most common ingredients that are useful for making such drinks include cucumber,
ginger, mint, lemon and honey. A drink of this entire ingredient other work wonder as a
detoxifying agent. This drink is to be consumed every morning before the first meal of the day
and before dinner (Nix, 2016).
Section C
According to Marmot (2017) the social gradient in health has a direct implication that
important actions for improving health have to be taken at social level. As per the author, health
and wellbeing of an individual is influenced by the social status he upholds and the life
expectancy. The social gradient has been well studied in literature in relation to health outcomes
and it has been noted that those who are poor have poor health conditions. Those who are

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deprived have been known to be having less access to nutritious food and thus suffer adverse
health conditions. The author further argues that those who are on the other side of social
gradient also are likely to suffer poor health conditions which are an indirect impact of the social
status. Fewer the education level more is the chances of suffering poor health conditions. The
rise in mortality rate and poor health is not to be always attributed to lack of access to healthcare.
Suicide, drugs, alcohol and chronic liver disease are also common among those who belong to
the higher social class.
According to Braveman and Gottlieb (2014) social determinants of health have thrown
light on health-related factors of the social environment such as accessibility to healthy foods,
recreational areas, walk-ability, that can influence the individual’s health behaviors. Evidence
point out that socioeconomic factor such as wealth, income and education are the basic causes of
wide range of health outcomes. These have proved to shape plausible pathways in addition to
biological mechanisms by which health is shaped up. Social experiences have come into
limelight in this regard as research point out that experiences such as ethnic or racial
discrimination have a negative impact on the health conditions of those who are sufferers. Such
influences act as pervasive stressor in the intermingled interactions. It has been found that
disparities are irrespective of education level and income status. When a person lives in a society
which has a strong legacy of racial discrimination there could be major damage done to the
health conditions through psychobiologic pathways.
On the personal front, the socials determinants of health that influence my health
conditions are social experiences and socioeconomic background. As per the Australian
Dietary Summary Guidelines, an individual is required to make healthy food choices and
consume diet inclusive of foods such as fruits, vegetables, grain, lean meats and reduced fat

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products (Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary 2013). I come from a middle class
socioeconomic background and have moderate access to the food that has
been recommended by the guideline. I believe that my access to more
healthy food choices is restricted to a considerable level by the economic
condition my family has at present. Socioeconomic factor contributes to worse health
through pathways over relatively longer time frames. However, I need to highlight that
social experiences have been a positive driving factor for appropriate access
to food that I can afford. Free of any racial discrimination and disparity, there
are negligible constraints in accessing healthier food options.

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References
Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary. (2013). [ebook] Australian Government. Available at:
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/your_health/healthy/nutrition/
n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014_1.pdf [Accessed 23 Apr. 2018].
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The Social Determinants of Health: It’s Time to Consider
the Causes of the Causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl 2), 19–31.
De Souza, R. J., Mente, A., Maroleanu, A., Cozma, A. I., Ha, V., Kishibe, T., ... & Anand, S. S.
(2015). Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause
mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-
analysis of observational studies. Bmj, 351, h3978.
Hartmann, C., Siegrist, M., & van der Horst, K. (2013). Snack frequency: associations with
healthy and unhealthy food choices. Public health nutrition, 16(8), 1487-1496.
Marmot, M. (2017). The health gap: Doctors and the social determinants of health. Scandinavian
journal of public health, 45(7), 686-693.
Nix, S. (2016). Williams' Basic Nutrition & Diet Therapy-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
ten Cate, D., Huisman-de Waal, G., Ettema, R. G. A., & Schuurmans, M. J. (2016). Interventions
to prevent malnutrition in older community-dwelling patients: a systematic
review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(Suppl. S1), 51-51.