nutritional pyramid

NUTRITION for THE GROWING YEARS

2009-01-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

Food nourishes life. The nutrients in food are vital for children to grow and maintain
sound health. The completeness of children’s nutrition depends on the food taken.
FOOD AND NUTRIENTS
• Different foods provide different nutrients,and in different amounts.
• No single food can meet all the nutritionalneeds of children.
• A wide variety of foods is required toensure that children get all the nutrientsthey need daily.

THE MAIN NUTRIENTS IN FOODS
ENERGY
• Energy is required to generate heat formaintaining body temperature and for fuelling all body functions, including:

Voluntary (physical) activities: walking, sitting, talking, working, playingand everything else children do through the day.
Involuntary (basal) activities: breathing, digesting food, blood circulation, maintaining muscular tone, transmitting nerve impulses.

• Carbohydrates, protein and fats provide energy; fats provide 21/4 times (9 kilocalories
per gram) more energy than carbohydrates or protein (4 kilocalories per gram).
• Energy from food must be sufficient to make sure that growth is achieved without compromise.

CARBOHYDRATES
• Both complex (starches) and simple (sugars) carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, the fuel that the body needs.
• Fibre, a type of complex carbohydrate, is essential for maintaining good health.
• Main sources of carbohydrates are grains, cereals and tubers.
• Carbohydrates are also found in fruits, vegetables and legumes (beans and pulses).
• Carbohydrates protect other nutrients from being used as energy sources.

PROTEIN
• Protein is the building block for muscles and other body parts.
• Protein also repairs and replaces tissues as well.
• Sources of protein include fish, meat, poultry, legumes, milk and dairy products.
• Adequate protein intake ensures optimum growth.

FATS
• Fats are important for providing energy, maintaining body temperature and making hormones and cells in the body.
• Fat from food is important for transporting fat-soluble vitamins and providing essential fatty acids that the body cannot manufacture on its own.
• Essential fatty acids are important for the development of the brain, nervous system and eyes.
• Main sources of fat are cooking oil, meat fats and table spreads.
• Fats are not unhealthy unless taken in excessive amounts.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS
• Vitamins and minerals are organic compounds that cannot be manufactured by the human body.
• Vitamins can be divided into: u Fat-soluble vitamins: vitamins A, D, E and K. Water-soluble vitamins: B-group vitamins and vitamin C.

• Minerals can be divided into:

Macrominerals: calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulphur.
Trace minerals: iron, manganese, iodine, zinc, selenium, fluoride, copper and cobalt.

• Vitamins and minerals are vital for health as they perform hundreds of functions in the body.
• A balanced diet can supply all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

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PROBLEMS RELATED TO FOOD & NUTRITION

Nutritional pyramid for kids

2008-12-17T01:25:00.000-08:00

Five months after the United States Department of Agriculture presented the food pyramid for adults to the public, it launched a new food pyramid and nutritional guidelines for children 6 to 11 years.

But even though the new recommendations include diets with more veggies, fewer fries and less sedentary lives, some consumer groups continue to consider that taxpayer dollars would be better allocated to an effective mass media campaign promoting healthier lifestyles and forcing schools to eliminate empty-calorie foods such as sodas, candy and chips.

Child obesity is a very serious problem that affects around 16 percent of children in the United States, according to the CDC. Conditions associated with obesity, such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, arthritis and cardiovascular disease are on the rise and have become a public health priority.

Across the country, community organizations strive to address the obesity epidemic, as is the case with the Health Promotion Coalition of Collier County. With a holistic approach, the coalition has promoted the USDA recommendations and organized activities that increase public awareness, including monthly workshops to educate coalition members and community leaders, broaden its scope and make resources available to the community. The coalition has understood the important role that schools play in fighting obesity and has collaborated with the school district to encourage healthy eating and active living.

In the past few decades junk food eating has significantly increased, according to Dr. Robert Osgoodby, quoted by Dr. Lynn Hardy's article Body Pollution. In 2001, the average American consumed 45 large bags of potato chips; 120 orders of French fries; 190 candy bars, and 150 slices of pizza per year. In only 20 years, the consumption of junk food has nearly or more than doubled. The problem is junk food provides a large amount of calories and has very little nutritional value (www. Gifam.org).

The pyramid's recommendations for kids, not very different from the adult pyramid, are expected to educate the public and change nutritional habits. The new pyramid uses kid-friendly images depicting each of the six major food groups and encouraging exercise.

With a poster with the pyramid graphic, the USDA has launched a set of materials for kids including an Internet game designed to promote healthy eating, a coloring page, a worksheet to help kids keep track of their food choices and see if they match with the pyramid's recommendations, and materials to be used in the classroom.

But, according to Michael F. Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), "Even if MyPyramid for Kids were terrific, there's no strategy to put materials in every classroom in America they're actually only making them available upon request." He also expressed his concerns about how MyPyramid for Kids doesn't discourage children from consuming sodas, fast food, candy and other junk foods. (www.cspinet.org)

The USDA sustains that the program is designed to increase kids' physical activity and encourages them to eat more foods that are nutritious.

The New Nutritional Pyramid

2008-11-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

To feed themselves and to make exercise well, are steps important to maintain the good health. The Department of Agriculture of the United States has presented the new pyramid nutritional, with the purpose of to remember to us that we must choose more healthful foods and be active every day. The new pyramid is a customized approach so that the people find a balance between whom they eat and their physical activity.

Nutritional groups in the pyramid

Grains - it consumes half in integral grains

-Here the cereals, breads, cakes, rice are included or grazes.
-It begins with a good breakfast and it chooses an integral grain cereal.
-It prefers the integral bread to the white bread.

Vegetables variety

-It chooses major amount of vegetables of dark green color like brcoli and the spinach.
-It consumes major amount of vegetables color orange like the carrots and sweet potatoes.
-It eats major amount of kidney beans and peas like pinto, red kidney beans and lentils.

Fruits

-It consumes variety of fruits. It chooses fresh fruits, congealed, tinned or dry. You do not take much amount from juice of frutas.y asegrate that is 100% juice.

Milky products

It drinks milk. Milk has calcium that contributes to have strong bones. It chooses milk and yogurt low in fats.If you cannot take milk, takes drinks enriquesidas with calcium.

Meats and Kidney beans

It eats fat meats, chicken, turkey and fish of low content. It is better than they are cooked to the furnace, grill or irons. It also consumes fish, kidney beans, peas, nuts and seeds, are good sources of proteins.

It knows the new nutritional pyramid:

The person raising the stairs remembers to you that you do something active every day, like running, swimming, to run bicycle or to practice some sport.
Each color, every day. The different colors represent the 5 nutritional groups plus fats. Every day you must eat of all the groups.
As time some strips of colors are wider than others, which means that you must choose more foods of the groups with wide strips.
The strips are wider down than above. Each nutritional group has foods you must consume that them more than others and are those that are in the base of the pyramid.

The hidden danger behind Oversized waistline

2008-11-17T22:51:00.000-08:00

Overweight or Obesity is associated with an increased incidence of chronic diseases. This health risk is link to the location of the excess body fat. Abdominal obesity which is the accumalation of body fat in the abdomen is a major clinical and public health issue.

Abdominal obesity poses a far greater health risk than those stored in your hips and thighs. This is the most visible warning to development of high blood pressure, diabetes & high level of cholesterol in the blood, which are the major risk factor leading to coronary heart disease & store.

Waist circmference is the simple marker to measure accumulation of body fat in the abdomen.

According to Asia Pacific Guidelines, waist circumference measurement should be...
female < 31.5" (80cm)
male < 35.5" (90cm)

BMI formula

2008-11-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Body Mass Index (BMI) formula was developed by Belgium statistician Adolphe Quelet(1796-1874), and was known as the Quetelet Index. BMI is also referred to as 'body mass indicator'. BMI is an internationally used measure of obesity.

How to calculate BMI (BMI formula) - for users who wish to manually calculate BMI we have provided a bmi formula for both imperial & metric measurements.
Body mass index calculation is very straightforward. Calculating body mass index requires only two measurements, height & weight.

Imperial BMI Formula
The imperial bmi formula accepts weight measurements in pounds & height measurements in either inches or feet.1 foot = 12 incesinches² = inches * inches

BMI = (weight in pounds * 703 ) / height in inches²

Metric Imperial BMI Formula
The metric bmi formula accepts weight measurements in kilograms & height measurements in either cm's or meters.1 meter = 100cmsmeters² = meters * meters

BMI = weight in kilograms / height in meter²

Calculate BMI & Find Weight Status
Table: BMI Weight Status Categories

Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
Normal 18.5 -24.9
Overweight 25 - 29.9
Obese 30 & Above

If you have calculated BMI use the table above to find your weight status. Different nations & organizations use different BMI ranges to classify weight status. Our table is in keeping with the internationally recognized, US Department of Health & Human Services weight status categories.

This article related to http://bmi-formula.blogspot.com

Nutritional Pyramid - what should you really eat?

2008-11-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

We can’t look at a nutritional pyramid these days without thinking of food and healthy eating. There was the U.S. government’s Food Guide nutritional pyramid, followed by its replacement, My nutritional pyramid, which was basically the same thing, just pitched on its side. The problem was that these efforts, while generally good intentioned, have been quite flawed at actually showing people what makes up a healthy diet. Why? Their recommendations have often been based on out-of-date science and influenced by people with business interests in their messages.

But, there’s a better alternative: the Healthy Eating nutritional pyramid, built by the faculty in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Based on the latest science, and unaffected by businesses and organizations with a stake in its messages, the Health Eating nutritional pyramid is a simple, trustworthy guide to choosing a healthy diet. Its foundation is daily exercise and weight control, since these two related elements strongly influence your chances of staying healthy. The Healthy Eating nutritional pyramid builds from there, showing that you should eat more foods from the bottom part of the nutritional pyramid (vegetables, whole grains) and less from the top (red meat, refined grains).

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