USDA Food Patterns
The major food groups of the USDA Food Patterns are fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and milk and milk products. The nutrients that come from fruit are folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, and some fiber. Vegetables provide your body with folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, and fiber. The grain food group provide you with folate, niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin, thiamin, iron, magnesium, selenium, and fiber. The foods in the protein group contribute protein, essential fatty acids, niacin (vitamin B3), thiamin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. Milk and milk products contribute protein, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, vitamin B12, and, when added, it can contribute
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To have historical information you have to ask about their history with respect to the person’s health status. You have to ask about their social status and financial standing also their health habits and if they have had used drugs. You also need to look at past medical records and may need to do a brief history of ancestors to see if there are any underlying disease that could be affecting their eating habits or their body’s way of taking the nutrients. Their financial status might tell you that they have inadequate funds to buy the right foods with the right nutrients. Social factors such as marital status, ethnic backgrounds and education level can influence food choices. You need to do a drug history of all drugs, prescribed and recreational. The drugs could be affecting the way the person is taking nutrients. You also need to do a diet history. In order to do that you watch what they eat over a period of 24 hours, three days, or a week by asking what a person eats and how much of each food that person eats. …show more content…
The person doing the test compares said person to the standard specific to this person’s gender and age or with previous measurements from the same person. The previous measurements can reveal patterns and indicate trends in this said person’s nutrition status. This test is not very good for specific nutrients; it is more for growth failure in children, wasting swelling of body tissues in adults and obesity. *
Another method used to assess nutrition status is physical examinations. This includes visual inspection of the eyes, hair, skin, posture, tongue and fingernails. This type of examination requires skill because you have to spot these physical signs; some of them may not stand out. But from these things that you can see you can tell if someone has a nutrition deficiency or toxicity. This test alone does not make firm conclusions. *
The fourth way you can assess someone’s nutritional status is doing a laboratory test. These tests include testing someone’s urine or blood in a laboratory and compare them to normal levels to see if this person has any nutritional deficits. This test is the most useful in seeing if the person is under normal nutrition levels.
To have historical information you have to ask about their history with respect to the person’s health status. You have to ask about their social status and financial standing also their health habits and if they have had used drugs. You also need to look at past medical records and may need to do a brief history of ancestors to see if there are any underlying disease that could be affecting their eating habits or their body’s way of taking the nutrients. Their financial status might tell you that they have inadequate funds to buy the right foods with the right nutrients. Social factors such as marital status, ethnic backgrounds and education level can influence food choices. You need to do a drug history of all drugs, prescribed and recreational. The drugs could be affecting the way the person is taking nutrients. You also need to do a diet history. In order to do that you watch what they eat over a period of 24 hours, three days, or a week by asking what a person eats and how much of each food that person eats. …show more content…
The person doing the test compares said person to the standard specific to this person’s gender and age or with previous measurements from the same person. The previous measurements can reveal patterns and indicate trends in this said person’s nutrition status. This test is not very good for specific nutrients; it is more for growth failure in children, wasting swelling of body tissues in adults and obesity. *
Another method used to assess nutrition status is physical examinations. This includes visual inspection of the eyes, hair, skin, posture, tongue and fingernails. This type of examination requires skill because you have to spot these physical signs; some of them may not stand out. But from these things that you can see you can tell if someone has a nutrition deficiency or toxicity. This test alone does not make firm conclusions. *
The fourth way you can assess someone’s nutritional status is doing a laboratory test. These tests include testing someone’s urine or blood in a laboratory and compare them to normal levels to see if this person has any nutritional deficits. This test is the most useful in seeing if the person is under normal nutrition levels.