Nutrition Assignment: Assessment, Needs, and Food Security

This assignment delves into three primary methods of nutrition assessment: biochemical, anthropometric, and BMI assessments. The biochemical assessment involves analyzing blood, urine, and hair to identify nutrient deficiencies. Anthropometric assessment uses body measurements, while BMI is a widely used tool. The assignment also explores how nutrient needs differ for older adults, focusing on Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, calcium, and dietary fiber. It also examines the challenges of food insecurity, particularly among Indigenous populations in Canada, and discusses the impact of government funding on food banks and the broader implications for food security. The assignment references relevant literature, including journal articles and a CBC news report.

Running head: NUTRITION SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS
Nutrition Science and Applications
Institution
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Nutrition Science and Applications
Acquiring relevant information regarding nutritional status is essential since
it helps to identify the possible vital nutrients. It also safeguards various groups of
people encountering lack of proper nutrients, and to create effective public health
strategies to respond to disparaging nutrition arrangements that contribute high
cases of deaths (Ambrosie, 2017). According to Mahan, & Raymond, (2017).
There are several methods of assessing nutrition in a population, which includes:
Biochemical assessment, BMI, and Anthropometric assessment.
Biochemical assessment
Akseer et al. (2017) noted that human bodies require essential nourishment
by ensuring they consume a balanced diet to satisfy the body necessities and to
retain physiological body requirements. Inappropriate nutrition leads to ingesting
too much calorie or improper supply of the necessary nutrients. Excessive
ingestion of calories leads to overweight and results in obesity and other non-
communicable illnesses. On the other side, under-nutrition triggered when
insufficient nutrients are consumed and taking low energy giving food leading to
severe health problems, and is usually experienced in developing nations
(Champagne, & Bray,2017). A lot of complications related to nutrition is
encountered, such as deficiency diseases and even mortality as well as morbidity
through lowered body immunity.

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The biochemical assessment utilizes lab dimensions of serum proteins,
serum micro-nutrient intensities, serum fats, and immunological factors to
ascertain the overall dietary status through the identification of particular
nutritional deficiencies. Nutrients could be assessed using this method by
analyzing the number of nutrients in the blood, feces, urine, and hair.
Anthropometric Assessment
This method uses the body dimensions to evaluate the nutritional content in
the human body. It is a practical and instant appropriate technique to assess the
infant's growth patterns at early stages of development. An assessment of children's
growth may also offer a proper understanding of the nutrition and health conditions
of the whole population targeted. However, this method is a bit inaccurate
compared to BMI and biochemical techniques during the assessment of the
individual nutritional standing. This technique is appropriate in circumstances
where resources are adversely inadequate (Mahan, & Raymond, 2017). However,
this technique can be applied to assess groups under the risk of malnutrition, and
use other methods to screen individuals that need more investigation.
BMI
Body Mass Index is a commonly used method to assess nutritional status.
However, this technique is considered practical; it cannot be used to differentiate
the lean body mass from the fat. BMI is usually calculated by diving the weight in

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kilograms and height in meters. The technique is generally regarded as a good
indicator, and it's utilized to assess the chronic energy deficiencies of adults,
particularly for the developing nations. BMI is connected with overweight and
underweight mass, and therefore, the proteins and fats reserves of the body can be
calculated. In ordinary adult individuals, the ration is almost constant, and an
individual having low BMI is underweight for their heights.
Taking proper diet and remaining fit is significant regardless of the
individual's age. As an individual gets older, his/her body demands various needs.
Hence some nutrients become mainly essential for good health. When a person
gets old, they become susceptible to malnourishment. Furthermore, efforts to
provide older adults with proper nutrition face myriad challenges since nutritional
needs are not well-defined. The BMI and basal metabolic rates reduce as a person
ages (Mahan, & Raymond, 2017). Thus an older adult requires less energy per
kilogram of their body weights. Certain nutrients become particularly vital as it
gets older such as Vitamin B12, Calcium, dietary fibre, and Vitamin D.
Vitamin B12
Cobalamin is soluble in water that is important to make red blood cells,
which maintains well-functioning of the brain. Although this vitamin is essential
for older adults, they aren't in a position to absorb enough of it from their diet. If

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this persists, it can lead to B12 deficiency. Since older individuals don't have
enough capacity to produce stomach acids, there will be challenges in cobalamin
absorption from food. However, young individuals provide sufficient stomach with
high potential of absorbing vitamin B12. Older people are there necessary for older
adults to take fish, eggs, and dairy products and meat since they are rich in
cobalamin. Hence aging individuals make up for this through consuming
cobalamin supplements or taking vitamin B12 fortified food. Such food has
crystalline cobalamin that is not contained in proteinous food. So individuals who
produce abnormal stomach acids may still be provided in fortified feed (Piazza,
2019). Essentially, aging intensifies the risk of cobalamin deficit.
Vitamin D and calcium
These two nutrients are equally essential for bone-in aging individuals.
Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium, which is necessary to build and keep
strong bones. Unlike young people, older persons tend to absorb little calcium
from their food. Nonetheless, less absorption of calcium is usually caused by
vitamin D deficiency due to body ineffectiveness for its production. Since vitamin
D is made from cholesterol when the skin comes in contact with sunlight, older
adults have thinner coats that reduce vitamin D production (Dowling, 2019). It's,
therefore, essential for older people to ingest food and supplements rich in vitamin

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D and calcium. Such food rich in these nutrients are; dairy products, and
vegetables and fish.
Dietary Fiber
Constipation is a challenge in older individuals due to less mobility and
takes drugs to result in improper digestion. Consuming food rich in fibre content is
a solution to illness. Dietary fibre passes through the gut without being digested,
aid in stool formation and increases regular bowel activities, thus reducing
constipation. Their problems linked to bowels such constipation and diverticular
illnesses arise due to aging (Mahan, & Raymond, 2017). However, this can be
prevented through the consumption of high fibre content diet.
Food insecurity
Food insecurity and inadequacy arise in Canada because indigenous people
due to financial constraints. According to the research by Valarie Tarasuk, more
than four million of the Canadians struggle every day to get food for themselves
and their families. Food insecurity in many nations is a critical public health
challenge and more so in Canada (Marmot, 2018). Indigenous Canadians living in
remote and isolated regions encounter unique problems concerning food security
(Mendly-Zambo, 2017). These indigenous people can’t understand great food
insecurity. In Canada, the land is a link for culture, identification, supremacy and

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well-being; the notion of property is not considered while addressing policy
decisions regarding indigenous status (Hanbazaza et al. 2017). Canadian
indigenous food sovereignty, an idea that represents indigenous people's capability
to regulate their food structures comprising of the market chains, methods of
producing food, surrounding and culture, has not been of great concern despite
being key to addressing indigenous health particularly the indigenous individuals
residing in the urban areas. However, much attention has been focused on
indigenous food sovereignty regarding global and indigenous community (Tarasuk,
St-Germain, & Mitchell, 2019). Indigenous people are the most hit populaces in
Canada. Nevertheless, their perceptions and understanding are usually not involved
in current food security discussions.
Mendly-Zambo (2017) argued that addressing food insecurity is necessary in
Canada since some children in the country at times go hungry. Food insecurity
injustice in Canada has been multifaceted by the progressive loss of rights to
customary territories and resources, and community views, rules and regulations
that remain appealing in traditional activities complicated, and erect substantial
pressure on aboriginal fishing hunting (Juutilainen, 2020). To address food
insecurity, the policymakers need to undertake feasibility studies on the execution
of necessary income to be managed through taxation and setting above the Low-

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Income Measures, raising the State's child benefits that can address child poverty
and factoring in the cost of living index. (Ambrosie, 2017)

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References
Akseer, N., Al‐Gashm, S., Mehta, S., Mokdad, A., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2017). Global
and regional trends in the nutritional status of young people: a critical and
neglected age group. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1393(1),
3-20.
Ambrosie, L. M. (2017). An Accounting Model for Social Sustainability.
Champagne, C. M., & Bray, G. A. (2017). Nutritional status: An overview of
methods for assessment. In the Nutrition Guide for Physicians and Related
Healthcare Professionals (pp. 351-360). Humana Press, Cham.
Dowling, K. (2019). Quantifying minor vitamin D metabolites using liquid
chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and determining their
contribution to vitamin D nutritional status (Doctoral dissertation,
University College Cork).
Hanbazaza, M., Ball, G. D., Farmer, A. P., Maximova, K., Farahbakhsh, J., &
Willows, N. D. (2017). A comparison of characteristics and food insecurity
coping strategies between international and domestic post-secondary
students using a food bank located on a university campus. Canadian
Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 78(4), 208-211.

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Juutilainen, S. (2020). Truth and reconciliation for the health of Indigenous
peoples in Canada: Implications for dietetic practice and nutrition policy
FNN 201. 2-4.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/food-security-covid19-trudeau-1.5520492
Mahan, L. K., & Raymond, J. L. (2017). Food & The Nutrition Care Process.
Krause’s Food & The Nutrition Care Process.
Marmot, M. (2018). Social Determinants, Capabilities and Health Inequalities: A
Response to Bhugra, Greco, Fennell and Venkatapuram.
Mendly-Zambo, Z. (2017). Competing Approaches to Household Food Insecurity
in Canada.
Montgomery, M. (2019). Social Determinants of Health: Social Policy to Address
Food In (security) in Canada Social Policy Adedolapo Elizabeth Onidare
University of Regina.
Piazza, A. (2019). Food consumption and nutritional status in the PRC. Routledge.
Sauberlich, H. E. (2018). Laboratory tests for the assessment of nutritional status.
Routledge.
Tarasuk, V., St-Germain, A. A. F. & Mitchell, A. (2019). Geographic and socio-
demographic predictors of household food insecurity in Canada, 2011–12.
BMC public health, 19(1), 12