General Nutrition

Term Paper

NFSC 429: Cultural Food

Skill Area: Nutrition Education

Assignment Title: The Breakfast Ritual

What I learned: Through this assignment I learned how to conduct a qualitative research study. This study was achieved by conducting interviews, collecting data, organizing and sorting data, and to draw conclusions within my research.

Reflection of the assignment: This assignment helped me to better understand how challenging and difficult collecting data and working with many different types of people could be. This assignment helped me to prioritize my research and take each step one at a time in order to provide clear and accurate results. Surveying individuals proved to be very time consuming but well worth the time and effort. Through my research I was able to accurately answer my questions which had placed me on this journey. I found that age, gender, environment and status affects the way people think and feel about what they eat, especially in regards to breakfast.

Relevance to the profession: I believe that being able to conduct quality research is important in so many different areas and facets of life. In order to provide people with accurate statistics and data we must first conduct research. Asking a question and being able to conduct a quality quantitative research study proves to be imperative in not just the field of nutrition, but in so many other professions.

Case Study

NFSC 340: Human Nutrition

Skill Area: Human Nutrition / Clinical Nutrition

Assignment Title: Case Study: Jake

What I learned: During the project I learned how to effectively collect a 24 hour dietary recall and how to use software to better assess the micro and macro nutrients that are consumed. I was able to create a revised meal plan that would better neat the nutrition needs of a growing teenager who is constantly on the go.

Reflection of the assignment: This assignment helped me to better understand how challenging and difficult collecting data such as a dietary recall. There was so much information to consider and be placed correctly into software to analyze the nutritional status of patients. This assignment helped me to focus my career goals in realizing that I enjoy working directly with others and providing them with the information they seek. Being able to revise a meal plan and share this information with the client and educate them helped me to associate what I read in textbooks to a practical situation.

Relevance to the profession: An understanding of Human Nutrition as well as Clinical Nutrition is vital in the development of a profession is Nutrition and Food Sciences. This project provided me with applied skills and a confidence for clinical nutrition and education.

Evidence Analysis Assignment

NFSC 440: Advanced Human Nutrition

Skill Area: Human Nutrition

Assignment Title: Does caffeine have an impact on blood glucose and insulin resistance in diabetics

What I learned: Through this assignment I learned how to conduct and create a proper research and evidence analysis rubric. I have also learned to effectively read lengthy research articles in hopes of interpreting the results.

Reflection of the assignment: This assignment helped me to better understand how to read and interpret research when looking for answers in regards to nutrition analysis. Often times in nutrition we are faced with tough questions that send nutritionists in search of medical answers. This assignment provided me with the knowledge of where to look for research, how to know if the research is reliable, and how to understand the findings and give statistical value to the results. Through my research I was able to accurately answer my initial question which had placed me on this journey. I found that age, gender, and diabetic state all affect the interaction between caffeine in the form of coffee on blood glucose in the form of insulin resistance. However, research only shows this to be true when the patient in a type 2 diabetic.

Relevance to the profession: I believe that being able to distinguish between a quality research study and research study filled with limitations and errors is important in a nutrition career. In order to provide people with accurate information and education when it comes to nutrition we must first analyze the research.