With America quickly turning into the "fast food" nation, it has become more important than ever to evaluate the impact of diet and exercise on our health. For this assignment, address the following:

Part I: Review the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in Chapter 5 of your course text and for each guideline, provide a method or tip to incorporate it into your daily life. Give a specific example with each tip. Focus on the following guidelines:

Focus on Nutrient Density

Physical Activity

Weight Management

Food Groups to Encourage

Food Groups to Limit

Food Safety

Part II: Explore the U.S.D.A.'s ChooseMyPlate website. Register with the SuperTracker and describe the food plan provided to you. This includes total calorie allotment for the day, quantity of each food group, and examples of servings from each food group. Use this ideal daily plan as a reference for the menu plan you are going to make.

Part III: Select several popular fast food restaurants whose nutritional information is posted on their website (e.g. McDonald's, Taco Bell, Subway, Arby's, Wendy's, Domino's, etc.). Try to make a full-day menu (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) using the fast food restaurant selections with the myplate.gov personal food plan. Analyze this diet and discuss:

Could you plan your fast food, full-day menu within the dietary guidelines of USDA?

Describe the challenges in creating this diet with the tools provided?

Give suggestions as to how any of the tools could be altered to improve ease of use?

Would it be easier to apply the dietary guidelines to home-made meals?

Are there healthy food choices at fast food restaurants?

Can you plan to eat healthily at fast food restaurants?

Besides the food options, what else can be done to encourage healthful eating on the go?

Summarize what you have learned from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans along with the U.S.D.A. ChooseMyPlate plan. What overall changes do you personally need to make in your diet? Describe strategies you can use to make these changes. What you have learned about fast food dining and its role in nutrition?