Part 1

Chapter 17: Nutrition through the Life Cycle: Pregnancy and the First Year of Life

1. Match the following nutrient to its corresponding food source(s). There will be several nutrients per WIC food source.  

2. After completing the table above, answer the following questions. Expectation: ½ page single spaced typed.
3. Pick one of the nutrients from the above list and refer to pages 663 – 669 in your textbook. Discuss the purpose for the macronutrient or micronutrient of your choosing and what the increase in need is for the specific nutrient during pregnancy

Iron

Iron is an important mineral in the body of a pregnant woman. It is a critical mineral in the formation of blood cells which are the main components of the blood and are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body.During pregnancy, iron is one of the critical micronutrients that the body of a pregnant woman needs. During this period, the body of the pregnant woman demands for red blood cells for different reasons. These include: to meet the growing needs of the pregnant woman for maternal blood, the increasing need for blood by the growing uterus, placenta as well as thedeveloping fetus itself, hence the need for more iron.

The need for iron continuously increases as the pregnancy matures. This is especially soin the last trimester. During this period, the growing fetus is storing iron in its liver for use during the first few months of its life. Failure of the pregnant mother to increase her intake of iron results in anemia in the mother due to the fetus robbing maternal iron, paleness, and exhaustion, or even death during or after childbirth. To the fetus, lack of iron mineral results in low birth weight, pre-term birth, stillbirth, and mortality of the child in the first weeks after birth. Therefore, it is critical that the pregnant mother increases her uptake of food which are rich in iron such as beans, seafood, and dark green leafy vegetables especially spinach.

1. What is your impression of the foods that WIC provides vouchers for?

The foods that WIC provides vouchers for contain macro and micronutrients which are essential for pregnant mothers. These essential nutrients provided through WIC vouchers go towards ensuring the health of the fetus is safeguarded through eating well and staying healthy. The foods by WIC also go to provide the basic essential nutrients needed, not all the nutrients needed for the developing fetus and the mother’s body.

1. Do you think WIC is helpful for pregnant women? Why?

Yes, I am of the view that WIC is very helpful to not only pregnant mothers but to the developing fetuses. This is because it makes available to pregnant women who live below the poverty line with essential nutrients that save them from nutritional risks.

Part II:

Chapter 17: Nutrition through the Life Cycle: Pregnancy and the First Year of Life

Chapter 18: Nutrition through the Life Cycle: Childhood and Adolescence

Think about what eating was like growing up in your house.  We learn how to eat and then feed children from our parents and caretakers.  There is no set wrong or right way to do this. However, some ways seem to be more successful.  On her website (http://www.ellynsatter.com/), Ellyn Satter provides an approach called “Parents Provide, Children Decide”.  Please read the articles on Blackboard and then write at least ½ page, single spaced response with the following thoughts in mind.

Explore this role distinction in feeding compared to your own experiences or those you have observed.

Ellyn Satter provides a useful description of the roles of parents and children in the feeding interaction. She posits that it is the responsibility of the parent to provide a wide variety of food at mealtimes, and it is up to the child to decide what and how much to eat. That is, the parent must give their children numerous choices at the table, such as bread, fruit, vegetable, starch and dessert, and it is left to the child to choose from all the options at a particular meal. Satter argues that children naturally regulate their food intake so that they ultimately balance their nutritional needs. While, I consider Ellyn Satter a specialist in the field of children’s eating, this distinction in feeding hardly applies or applied to my own experiences or the experiences other families I have observed.In most cases from my experience parents often feel external pressure from other parents, family members, and the media to limit or alter their child’s diet. Further, for most of the parents who diet, overeat or control their eating, the idea of allowing children naturally regulate their own food intake is frightening. Most parents do not think children can internally regulate eating patterns. Most of my experience points towards parents who view it their responsibility not only to decide what to prepare, when food is to be eaten, and where they are to be eaten, but also they are responsible for the decision on how much the child should eat and whether the child eats.

What are its benefits?

The benefits of Satters’ model are that it helps the child to develop good internal regulation regarding eating patterns and recognizing satiety. It makes children grow up capable of managing what and how much they eat. It also avoids food battles and power struggles as the child feels that it was her idea to eat, and not an imposition by the parents. The model also honors children’s preferences, and makes meal times fun and pleasant for children.

What are the barriers to using it?

The barriers to using Ellyn Satter’s model is that in the present social setup, it can be difficult to provide positive and reliable access to food. There are also barriers of time, skills and money. There are also societal pressures on what is considered the correct way of taking care of the nutrition needs of the child. This correct way is that the parent is responsible for ensuring what the child consumes. These constraints limit a parent’s ability to provide a wide variety of food at mealtimes.

Would you use it with your children? Why or why not?

YES, I would use it with my children. This is because it empowers the child to be able to independently manage and regulate what and how much to eat allowing them to adapt positive eating habits. It also makes mealtimes fun and pleasant and a bonding experience and time for the family, rather than being a food battle. Thus, I would gladly adopt it with my children.

Part III:

Chapter 19: Nutrition through the Life Cycle: The Later Years

Answer the following questions, each question should be ¼ to ½ page single spaced typed.

1. Look at the score you calculated from the Determine Your Nutritional Health tool and discuss the importance of the results for each answer.

The elderly person I interviewed was a male aged 72 years. His total nutritional score was 4. According to the DETERMINE checklist scoring matrix, a score of 4 points to an individual with moderate nutrition risk. The scoring recommends that such an individual needs to improve his eating habits and change his lifestyle.

The YES questions that applied to the person I interviewed were: I have an illness or condition that made me change the kind and/or amount of food I eat; and I have 3 or more drinks of beer, liquor or wine almost everyday. The other questions in the DETERMINE checklist did not apply to him. The total score from these questions was 4 points. The two questions that he answered, upon further probing pointed to a habit or lifestyle that was unhealthy.

1. Discuss any information from the person regarding their typical food intake and how this may have impacted their score?

The elderly I interviewed indicated that he was suffering from a condition called Achlorhydria. Achlorhydria is a condition that mostly affects aging individuals. The condition refers to a state where a person has reduced secretion of stomach acid. This had forced him to adopt a completely different lifestyle that was meant to assist him manage the condition. Achlorhydria affects the digestion of foods in the stomach which are broken down by Hydrochloric acid. This condition would explain the nutrition risk that was captured by the DETERMINE checklist. Hydrochloric acid is important in the stomach as it facilitates the breakdown, digestion, and absorption of various foods including proteins, vitamin B12, and calcium. Low levels of Hydrochloric acid in the stomach, therefore, points towards low absorption of these nutrients into the body and this result in the body lackingin these nutrients.

The other relevant question that the person I interviewed found applicable to him was with regards to the consumption of 3 or more drinks of beer, liquor or wine almost everyday. Alcohol affects the nutritional status of an individual in various ways. First, individuals who consume alcohol frequently often eat poorly, and this affects and limits their supply of critical nutrients. Second, alcohol obstructs the nutritional process. It achieves this by changing how nutrients are digested, stored, utilizedand excreted. Lastly, alcohol impedes breakdown of food nutrients into absorbable bits. It does thisby limiting the secretion of the enzymes that are responsible for digestion. It also inhibits the absorption of nutrients by damaging the stomach lining and intestines. This affects the nutritionrisk of an alcoholic.

1. Discuss limitations and advantages of using the screening tool.

The DETERMINE your nutritional health checklist tool has various limitations and advantages.

Advantage

In terms of its advantages, DETERMINE as a screening tool is quick to apply, easy to administer and interpret, and provides a simple rating scale. Further, the tool can be administered and interpreted by nonprofessionals. This feature makes it a very useful and helpful tool especially in a community setting where there may be lacking professional health care providers. Thirdly, the DETERMINE your nutritional health checklist tool provides a general nutritional information that can reveal warning signs allowing for patient referral to professionals for further diagnosis and care. Lastly, while the tool was developed and validated as a nutritional screening tool for older adults to help them self-identify increased risk for poor nutritional status, it can also be used to screen for poor nutritional status among a variety of other populations, including patients in ambulatory, acute and long-term care settings (Barnstein & Luggen, 2011).

Limitation

The DETERMINE your nutritional health checklist tool also has some limitations. First, it can be of limited use especially when applied to senior citizens who have any form of cognitive impairment or poor vision. This is because sometimes it relies on self-reporting. Second, the checklist does not evaluate nutritional status, just the relative risk of poor nutritional status. These limitations notwithstanding, the tool is one of the most effective screening tool of the nutrition health of the elderly.

References

Barnstein, M., & Luggen, A. S. (2011). Nutrition for the Older Adult. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Thompton, J. L., Manore, M. M., & Vaughan, L. A. (2017). The Science of Nutrition (4 ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

 
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