Basic Human Nutrition

Section 1

Assignment 2

Case Study #1: Cultural Differences and Nutrition

Beth is a computer analyst from Toronto. She is 25 years old, 5’5” (1.65 m) tall and at 160 lbs (73 kg) she is overweight. Beth’s fast-paced day typically starts at 7 a.m. when she gets up for work. She is always in a rush in the mornings, and barely has time to grab a quick breakfast of instant drink or breakfast bar and a cup of coffee with cream that she consumes on the subway on her way to work.

Beth works long hours at her job and has a heavy workload that keeps her tied to her desk. Around 1 p.m. every day she takes enough time to grab lunch at the deli next door. She is in the habit of getting the same foods every day, generally a prepackaged corned beef or pastrami sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, and sliced cheese accompanied by a small bag of plain potato chips. Beth usually orders a 591 mL cola, and when she is feeling really stressed by a difficult work situation, she picks up a single serving hot apple pie to eat at her desk. Apple pie is a favourite comfort food and reminds her of happy times and special family meals.

By the time Beth gets done with work, it is 8:00 p.m. and she walks to the subway one block from her office and heads home. On the subway, she decides that she will have her favourite quick meal for dinner, a frozen “homestyle” fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and a side of creamed corn for dinner. She enjoys this meal and finds mashed potatoes to be very comforting after a long, tense day at work.

Beth eats most of her meals as takeout food or frozen meals out of the grocery store. She is generally too tired to cook, plus she likes the taste of convenience foods. Her freezer is always full of frozen pizzas, large-portion heat and serve meals, and frozen burritos. Each evening she enjoys an hour or two of television, and reads over some papers from work before fixing a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream and heading to bed.

One day her company holds a blood pressure screening for all of its employees and Beth decides to participate. She is shocked to find that at age 25, she has elevated blood pressure. This news makes Beth take stock of her health. Lately, she has been gaining weight and lacks some of the energy that she had in University. Her father died of a heart attack two years ago at age 58. Beth decides that she should make some changes in her life before she follows in her father’s footsteps to an early grave.

In another part of the world, Anna is busy with her daily routine. Anna works in her family’s produce store right outside of Prague, Czech Republic. She is also 25 years old and 5’4” tall (1.63 m). She weighs 155 lbs (70) and like Beth she is overweight. Anna’s typical day starts around 7 a.m. Anna’s breakfast is leisurely and consists of a Kaiser roll, a slice of ham, a small tomato, orange juice and a cup of coffee with cream. Anna likes to start the day eating a tomato and drinking orange juice because she knows that fruits and vegetables are healthy choices, and she always has a supply of tomatoes from the family produce stand.

After breakfast, Anna heads downstairs to work. The family produce shop is in the downstairs portion of their house. While at work, Anna’s brother carries large boxes of produce into the store and stocks the shelves. Anna sits in a chair at the register and rings up sales. The store closes at 1 p.m. for lunch. In the Czech Republic, foods are generally prepared and eaten in the home, and lunch is the largest meal of the day. Anna and her family members enjoy a lunchtime meal of soup, usually potato soup, plus roasted meat such as pork; boiled cabbage and dumplings. She often eats bread with her meal such as rye or pumpernickel with butter.

After lunch the store reopens until 7 p.m., when Anna returns upstairs for dinner. For dinner, Anna often eats a small sandwich of sausage on a bun. With her evening meal she often has a glass of beer. Anna is generally in bed by 10:30 p.m., and tries to get 8 hours of sleep so she is ready for another day’s work. However, three times a week she joins her friends at a local bar where they sit and talk and Anna will have 3 or 4 tall beers. On these occasions, she smokes cigarettes since most of her friends smoke too.

Recently, Anna’s mother has fallen ill. The doctor thinks Anna’s mother has suffered a very mild heart attack and needs to rest. Anna has a family history of heart disease. Her grandmother died of a heart attack a few years ago. Anna is worried about her mother, and Anna realizes that she needs to make some lifestyle changes herself if she is to avoid a heart attack in future.

Answer the following questions:

1)List all of the factors that influence Beth’s and Anna’s food choices.

2)Which of these factors do you think most influences Beth and Anna’s food choices?

3)What risk factors for chronic disease do Beth and Anna exhibit?

4)What is Beth’s and Anna’s BMI? What would be a healthy weight range for each of them?

5)Assume Beth’s breakfast consists of 31 grams of CHO, 11 grams of protein and 8 grams of fat. Anna’s breakfast has 51grams of CHO, 21grams of protein and 14 grams of fat. Calculate the total calories in each of their meals. Who had the healthier meal and why?

6)Looking at the food and lifestyle choices Beth and Anna make on a typical day, how might you advise them to modify their diet and daily routine to ensure a healthier lifestyle and lose weight?

7)How might fried chicken dinners and Beth’s convenience freezer foods contribute to diet related disease?

Source: Adapted from: Castonguay, Thomas, W. Case study #1: Cultural Differences and Nutrition. In, Nutrition Applications Workbook Thompson Wadsworth, 2006, p.5-6. (Used with permission)