University Healthcare Dietary Analysis and Recommendations

This report presents a detailed analysis of an individual's dietary habits over three days, documenting food and beverage intake, including specific quantities and times. The analysis compares the observed dietary patterns against the recommendations provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia, particularly focusing on the consumption of fruits and vegetables. The report identifies discrepancies between the individual's intake and the guidelines, highlighting insufficient fruit consumption and a need to increase vegetable servings. It proposes strategies for improvement, such as adopting a healthy eating pattern, substituting fast foods with fruits and vegetables, reducing screen time, and ensuring a variety of fruits and vegetables are available. Furthermore, the report examines the social determinants of health that affect the ability to meet the Australian Dietary requirements, including socioeconomic position, early life experiences, social exclusion, and residential environment. The report references several academic articles to support its findings and recommendations, providing a comprehensive overview of dietary assessment and its relation to public health and social determinants.

Running head: Healthcare 1
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Healthcare 2
SECTION A
Question 1
Daily Food & Beverage Diary
Day: 1
Date: 16th April 2019
Time Food/Beverage (includes
water)
Amount Comments
Breakfast – 9:00 AM Cereal 1.5 cups
Banana ½ cup
Milk 2% 8 fl oz
11 am Water, tap 2 cups Added table salt
Lunch 1:00 PM Turkey breast 3 oz
Brown bread 2 slices
American Cheese 1 slice
3pm Water, tap 2 cups Cold water
Dinner 4:00 PM Chicken fingers 1.5
French fries 10
Honey 2 Table spn Used for scooping
Heinz 2 Table spn
Carrots Standard
Milk ½ cup
Day:2
Date: 17th April 2019
Time Food/Beverage (includes
water)
Amount Comments
Breakfast – 9:00 AM Coffee Large
Cream 1 Tbsp
Sugar 2 Tbsp
11 am Water, tap 2 cups
Lunch 1:00 PM Subway sandwich: Brown
bread, chicken, American
6-inches Added table salt

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tomato, lettuce, cheese,
mayonnaise, and pickles
potato chips (baked) 1 avg bag
Soft drink 16 oz
3pm Water, tap 2 cups Cold water
Dinner 4:00 PM Hemberger, BBQ’D (normal
ground beef)
1 patty/ 4 oz Added table salt
Hamburger bun, white bread 1 patty
Tomato, raw 2 slices For dipping
Ice burg Lettuce 1 leaf
Red onion, raw 1 slice
Ketchup, Heinz 2 Tbsp 45 calories per tsp
Beer (5% alcohol) 12 oz Moosehead
Milk ½ cup
Day: 3
Date: 18th April 2019
Time Food/Beverage (includes
water)
Amount Comments
Breakfast – 9:00 AM Bran Flakes 1 cup
Sugar 1 Tsp
Milk 1% ½ cup
Whole wheat toast 1 slice
Soft margarine 2 tsp
11 am Water, tap 2 cups Luke warm
Lunch 1:00 PM Grilled cheese sandwich
Brown bread 1 slice Plain
Cheese 1 slice Small pieces
Bread with butter 1 Table spn
Yogurt-strawberry 100 ml Mini-go
Milk ½ cup 2%
3 pm Water, tap 2 cups Cold water
Dinner 4:00 PM Grilled chicken breast 3 oz
Lettuce salad- combined
greens, red cabbage, carrots,
tomato, and cucumber
2 cups Added table salt
potato (baked with cover) 1 tsp For dipping

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plus sour cream
Light ranch dressing (Kraft) 2 Tbsp
Question 2
The recommended pieces of vegetables and fruits to be consumed per day depends on factors
such as age and gender. I am 30 years old and male and according to the National Health and
Medical Research Council (2013) I should consume 6 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruits
daily.
Question 3
Day 1 vegetables serves were 2 and fruit serves were 1, in the second day there were 3 vegetable
servings and no fruit, and day 3 there were six servings of vegetables with no fruit. According to
the National Health and Medical Research Council (2013), individuals aged 30 years and are of
the male gender should have a minimum of 2 serves of fruits and six serves of vegetables per
day. This implies that I have not met the daily requirements of the consumption of fruits and
vegetables except for the vegetable serves on the third day.
The specific strategies that I will follow to ensure that I meet the guidelines include following a
healthy eating pattern at all times. This can be done by deliberately and intentionally deciding to
eat foods with appropriate calorie level. The substitution of fast foods with fruits and vegetables
will also ensure that the recommended dietary requirements are met (Wirth, Wabitsch, &
Hauner, 2014).

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Reduction in screen time is also another strategy to help meet the dietary requirements. Studies
have shown that too much of screen time leads to poor energy balance and promotes weight gain
because most of the time is spent watching TV which has fast food adverts and thus influencing
the viewer to consume less of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables and much more of junk
foods (de Rezende, Lopes, Rey-López, Matsudo, & do Carmo Luiz, 2014). Another strategy is to
ensure constant supplies of a variety of fruits and vegetables in my store. The studies by (Wirth,
Wabitsch, & Hauner, 2014) found out that healthy eating can be improved by stocking a variety
of healthy foods at home. The Australian dietary guideline recommends the consumption of a
small serve of lean meat or other types of flesh and increases nuts or legumes. This is in contrary
to my eating habits which has a high amount of lean meat and chicken each day. Dietary habits
with a high amount of meat and less of plant-based products have been regarded as unhealthy
and the primary source of cardiovascular diseases (Clonan, Wilson, Swift, Leibovici, &
Holdsworth, 2015).
SECTION B
The score is 5 points, meaning there is still an opportunity for scoring higher. There are several
modifications that should be implemented in my dietary pattern in order to meet the National
Health and Medical Research Council (2013) recommendations. There is a need for increasing
the number of vegetable servings to a minimum of five and at least 2 serves of fruits each day.
The study by Lima, Vianello, Corrêa, Campos, and Borguini. (2014) recommends that one-half
of the food plate should consist of fruits and vegetables because they are universally healthy.
They also supply dietary fibre and reduced incidences of cardiovascular disorders.

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There is also a need for increasing the servings of reduced fat yoghurt and soy milk. This is
because my dietary diary has only one serving of milk per day against the recommended
minimum of two. Studies have indicated that low-fat milk has more calcium which is essential
for bone formation (Pereira, 2014). Another vital change need in the above dietary plan is to
increase the amount of water consumption which is currently at two cups (500 mL) per day
against 2000 mL as recommended by the Australian Dietary Guideline.
The amount of salt taken should also be reduced alongside the elimination of salts added at the
table. There is an additional salt at the table for every lunch and dinner. High intake of sodium
into the body increases blood pressure which is a leading cause for heart disease. High blood
pressure increases strain on the blood vessels which leads to kidney failure, a build-up of toxic
wastes in the body which leads to further complications (Farquhar, Edwards, Jurkovitz, &
Weintraub, 2015).
SECTION C
The articles by Braveman and Gottlieb (2014) examine the social determinants of health. The
specific social determinants of health that affect my ability to meet the Australian Dietary
requirements include the social-economic position, nature of early life, and social segregation.
Individuals from the less fortunate social or economic background are more predisposed to a
high risk of poor health thus having higher rates of sickness, death including morbidity. The
social-economic position is determined by factors such as educational attainment, income and
occupation. A good education equips one to get better employment, secure income and is able to
afford a healthy diet. The lack of proper education background due to poor economic
background limits my ability to secure better employment and income which is essential in

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meeting the nutritional standards recommended by the Australian dietary requirements (Shaw,
McGeever, Vasquez, Agahi, and Fors, 2014). The study by Shaw et al. (2014) shows that there is
a significant association between social economic position and health. A better income increases
the chances of accessing healthy food which is more costly than fast foods.
Another social determinant of health which is also relevant to my case is early life. Studies have
shown that the basis of adult health is influenced by the early years. The economic and emotional
support during the early years provides a strong foundation for future social and economic
wellbeing. It happened that I was brought up from disadvantaged backgrounds and thus did not
perform well at school thus affecting my adult chances for employment and health knowledge
(Heckman & Mosso, 2014).
Social exclusion is another social determinant of health that limits my ability to meet the
recommended nutritional requirements. I am from the Australian Indigenous community which
has historically been prejudiced thus increasing their risk of exclusion. More specifically, the
Aboriginal cultural orientation is affected by health literacy because there is no consideration of
evidence-based research on dietary requirements. The health perspective of the Aboriginal
peoples is to a great extent different from the western perspective which is the foundation of
modern medicine. Therefore, the Aboriginal culture contributes to social exclusion which further
limits my ability to meet the recommended nutritional requirements (Shaw et al., 2014).
Residential environment is another social determinant that affects my ability to meet the required
dietary requirements (Riley, 2018). My community and its neighbourhoods have access to a
small variety of fruits and vegetables. Most of the nutritional recommendations by the Australian
Dietary guidelines are easily accessible in urban environments thus making it difficult to have

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the recommended number of servings each day. Moreover, the lack of a developed transport
network contributes to the high cost of fruits and vegetables and inaccessibility.

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References
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it's time to consider the
causes of the causes. Public health reports, 129(1_suppl2), 19-31.
Clonan, A., Wilson, P., Swift, J. A., Leibovici, D. G., & Holdsworth, M. (2015). Red and
processed meat consumption and purchasing behaviours and attitudes: impacts for human
health, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Public health nutrition, 18(13),
2446-2456.
de Rezende, L. F. M., Lopes, M. R., Rey-López, J. P., Matsudo, V. K. R., & do Carmo Luiz, O.
(2014). Sedentary behavior and health outcomes: an overview of systematic
reviews. PloS one, 9(8), e105620- e105630.
Farquhar, W. B., Edwards, D. G., Jurkovitz, C. T., & Weintraub, W. S. (2015). Dietary sodium
and health: more than just blood pressure. Journal of the American College of
Cardiology, 65(10), 1042-1050.
Heckman, J. J., & Mosso, S. (2014). The economics of human development and social
mobility. Annu. Rev. Econ., 6(1), 689-733.
Lima, G. P. P., Vianello, F., Corrêa, C. R., Campos, R. A. D. S., & Borguini, M. G. (2014).
Polyphenols in fruits and vegetables and its effect on human health. Food and Nutrition
sciences, 1065-1082.
National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia). (2013). Eat for Health: Australian

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Dietary Guidelines: Summary, 1-53
Pereira, P. C. (2014). Milk nutritional composition and its role in human health. Nutrition, 30(6),
619-627.
Riley, A. R. (2018). Neighborhood disadvantage, residential segregation, and beyond—Lessons
for studying structural racism and health. Journal of racial and ethnic health
disparities, 5(2), 357-365.
Shaw, B. A., McGeever, K., Vasquez, E., Agahi, N., & Fors, S. (2014). Socioeconomic
inequalities in health after age 50: are health risk behaviors to blame?. Social science &
medicine, 101, 52-60.
Wirth, A., Wabitsch, M., & Hauner, H. (2014). The prevention and treatment of
obesity. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 111(42), 705-714.