Assignment- Diet Analysis

Objective: The purpose of this assignment is to compare your diet (food and nutrient intake) to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, MyPlate and the DRIs.

1. Record Your 3-Day Food/Drink Intake

A food record form is used to record the amounts and types of foods you eat and drink each day. Please record your food intake for three consecutive days that preferably include a weekend day (e.g. Thursday, Friday Saturday, or Sunday, Monday, Tuesday). In recording the foods/beverages you consume each day, try to be as precise as possible with the amounts and descriptions of each food/beverage consumed.

Below you will find a blank food record form. Below are instructions for completing the form.

• Record everything, forget nothing. Do not forget to write down everything that you eat and drink, including foods consumed for both meals and snacks.

• Include condiments and oils used for cooking.

• Be accurate with food descriptions. Write down clear descriptions of the food or beverage that you consume. In addition, it is important to mention how the food was prepared. For example: baked chicken, toasted wheat bread, boiled carrots.

• Record the amount of food/beverage consumed. Use household measures such as cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces, pounds, etc.

• Record everything immediately after eating. Carry the food record with you everywhere so that you don't forget to write down anything you've eaten.

• Ask the assistance of the person who prepared the food. The person who prepares your meals or snacks, if it is not yourself, may have better idea of what was in the food you ate than you do.

• Include all supplements. Include vitamins, minerals, Tums, Fibercon, etc.

• Use more than one form per day if needed.

• For Activity- Record the type and duration of the activity. Do not include activities of daily living (ADL) (e.g. eating, getting dressed, etc).

Note the amount of time you walk around campus, but don't include the time you are walking around your home, etc as this is considered ADLs. Activity logs are intended to record activity above and beyond what you normally do each day so if you run for 30 minutes on the treadmill, play intramural soccer, or any other form of exercise needs to be recorded. Note the intensity level as well (low, moderate, high)

2. Data Analysis: Instructions for MyPlate

1. Go online and use My Plate (www.choosemyplate.gov ). Select "Super Tracker"

2. "Create a Profile" and answer the questions to determine your nutrition needs based on your age, gender, and activity level.

3. Click on "Food Tracker" to record all data on foods and beverages consumed.
Select the meal for which the food was consumed.

4. Proceed to "Physical Activity" and input all of the activity you recorded for the three day time period. It will prompt you for time spent during that activity as well as what day the activity occurred. Physical activity must be recorded during the same week (starts on Sunday in SuperTracker)

5. Run the following reports:
a. "Food Groups and Calories"
b. "Nutrient Report"
c. "Physical Activity

**Make sure that you select the correct day range to ensure that you get an average of all three days intake.

6. You can export the reports into a Word, Excel or PDF document. Be sure to save on your computer!

This results in a chart that lists your intake and the recommend intake for all the nutrients on the assignments!

3. Using your Nutrient Analysis and Physical Activity printouts, complete the tables below.

*You will need to utilize additional resources in order to complete Table 1.

Table 1. Comparison with MyPlate

Table 2. Comparison with DRIs.