Assignment: Creating a Personal Dietary Plan- Student Guide

Assignment Summary

For this assignment, you will construct a personal dietary plan that is reflective of your current diet in terms of its nutritional value. Before creating this plan, you will conduct research to explore current dietary guidelines. You will also evaluate personal barriers, and internal and external influances, to setting nutritional goals, and making food choices. You will use a food log to monitor the progress of meeting these goals. This log will help track your eating habits over the course of five days. After your entire dietary plan is constructed, you will evaluate whether healthy daily nutritional values are being met. You will then participate in a small group discussion.

Background Information

Each day, you wake up and make the decision as to what you will eat and when. For example, you may skip breakfast because you are short on time, but you never go to sleep without having a satisfying dinner. The food choices we make greatly impact our health outcomes, both in the short term and long term. Thus, it is important to assess current eating habits to address how these habits impact health. In addition to the prevalence of obesity from unhealthy eating, there is also a high risk of developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and different forms of cancer.

Materials

- Internet access

Assignment Instructions

For this assignment, you are expected to submit three items:

1. Graphic organizer
2. Short-answer responses
3. Class discussion evaluation

Step 1: Prepare for the assignment.

a) Read through the guide before you begin so you know the expectations for this assignment.
b) If there is anything that is unclear, be sure to ask your teacher.

Step 2: Research the current recommended dietary guidelines for Americans.

a) Search on the Internet for resources about recommended dietary guidelines. Reliable resources include these authorities:

i. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
ii. The National Institutes of Health
iii. The US Department of Health and Human Services
iv. The US Department of Agriculture
v. The American Heart Association
vi. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

b) Write down notes that consider these concerns:

i. Benefits of healthy eating
ii. Consequences of poor eating choices
iii. Ways to promote a healthy lifestyle

Step 3: Complete the graphic organizer.

a) Create a list of nutritional goals for your dietary plan, identify personal barriers, and identify internal and external influances.
b) Record your eating habits.
c) Prepare for the small group discussion by responding to the short-answer questions.
d) Engage in a small group discussion, and evaluate the small group discussion by responding to the short-answer prompts.

Step 4: Complete the short-answer responses.

a) You will evaluate your goals, barriers, and eating habits by responding to questions.
b) Respond to the questions using 2 to 3 complete sentences that are free from spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors.

Step 5: Participate in a small group discussion.

a) Engage in a small group discussion.
b) Evaluate the discussion by responding to short-answer prompts and questions.

Step 6: Evaluate your assignment by using this checklist.

If you can check each box below, you are ready to submit your assignment.

- Did you research current dietary guidelines for eating?
- Did you set three personal, nutritional goals?
- Did you identify and write down personal barriers to eating healthy?
- Did you fill out all completed sections of the food log?
- Did you reflect on your experience and respond to the short-answer questions?
- Did you participate in and evaluate the group discussion?
- Are your short-answer responses at least 2 to 3 complete sentences that are free from spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors.

Step 7: Revise and submit your assignment.

a) If you were unable to check off all of the requirements on the checklist, go back and make sure that your assignment is complete. Save your assignment before submitting it.

b) When you have completed your assignment, return to the Virtual Classroom and use the "Add files" option to locate and submit your assignment. Ask your teacher for assistance if necessary.

c) Congratulations! You have completed your assignment.

Part One: Graphic Organizer

For this assignment, you will set nutritional goals, identify barriers, internal and external influences, and keep track of the nutritional value of what you consume in a food log.

1. Begin by setting three, personal nutritional goals. These goals should replace unhealthy food choices or habits with healthy ones.
2. Next, identify three barriers that will challenge you as you work toward achieving your goals.
3. Then, identify two influances (one internal and one external) that affect your food choices.
4. Then, keep track of your eating habits and nutritional sources by recording what you consume for five days. Add rows to the graphic organizer as needed.

Part Two: Short-Answer Response

Respond to the questions using 2 to 3 complete sentences that are free from spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors.

1. After reviewing your food log, what is a conclusion you can make about your food choices?

2. How well did your food log help you meet your nutritional goals? In what ways was the log helpful or not?

3. Did your identified barriers make it difficult to achieve your goals? What steps did you take to eliminate or lessen the impact the barriers had on your choices?

4. How did your identified internal and external influances affect your food choices?

5. What is a change you could make regarding your food choices for the future? Why would you make this change?

6. Outside of the food log, what is another strategy you can implement to promote a healthy lifestyle?

Part Three: Class Discussion

Here are the general guidelines for class discussion:

- Prepare for the class discussion by reviewing your research notes, nutritional goals, identified barriers, food log, and short-answer responses.

- Think of a question you could pose to the group that would help you understand more about making healthy food choices.

- Allow time for your classmates to complete a thought before speaking. Only one person should speak at a time.

- All students should be encouraged to participate.

- Take notes during the discussion to help you respond to the prompts that follow.

To evaluate your discussion, answer the following prompts and questions. Responses should be 2 to 3 complete sentences that are free from spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors.

1. Describe a time in the class discussion when you drew on your preparation by referring to the notes you had written earlier.

2. Describe a time in the class discussion when someone cited evidence from their research to make a point.

3. Describe a time in the class discussion where someone shared a personal barrier to making healthy food choices. What support was the class able to provide?

4. Describe any tips or tricks for using a food log that were shared during the class discussion.