Nutrition Awareness

Cora, Luis                                   Lake View High School
2943 N. Keating                              880-8140
Chicago, Il 60641

Objective(s):

    After the completion of this lesson, the student should be able to:
      a) Determine his or her ideal body weight.
      b) Determine the kilocalories in fat, protein, and carbohydrate in 
         food.
      c) Demonstrate familiarity with the food groups relating to 
         kilocaloric content.
      d) Estimate the basic metabolic rate (BMR), energy for voluntary
         activities and the energy to process food.
      e) Identify the food sources of vitamin and minerals and their
         role in the body's metabolism.

Materials

      Charts containing information about:
        1. kilocaloric values.
        2. vitamines and minerals; their food sources and function in
           the body.
        3. articles on nutrition from newspapers, magazines and 
           publications.

Recommended Strategy

       a) To calculate the desirable body weight for an average body 
          frame in females, start with 100 lbs. and add 5 lbs. for each
          additional inch of height over 5 feet. Males follow the same
          procedure except start with 110 pounds. Therefore, a female
          who is 5ft., 4in. tall should weigh within 10 percent of 120
          lbs. A male 5 ft., 9 in. tall should weigh within 10 percent of 155 
          lbs. Individuals with small frames should be close to the 
          lower limit of the +10 percent range, while those with large 
          frames can be near the upper +10 percent range of the 
          calculated desirable body weight.

       b) For this part of the exercise the teacher can have 
          kilocalorie charts or have the students figure them out by
          the following procedure: Determine the grams of the particular food.
          Multiply the carbohydrate grams times four, the fat grams
          times nine, and the protein grams times four, and add the 
          products. (Alcohol, not a nutrient, is grams times seven).

       c) The kilocaloric chart will also be useful in this part of
          the exercise.

       d) The BMR is influenced by a number of factors: age, height
          and sex. The BMR of females is less than that of males and
          decreases with age; however, it is higher in thin, tall 
          people. To calculate the basic metabolic rate for males, add 
          a zero to the body weight and then add twice the body weight 
          to that number. To calculate the BMR for females attach a 
          zero to their body weight and then add their weight to that 
          number.
          To calculate their energy for voluntary activities, the 
          person must classify his/her life style as one of the 
          following:

                Sedentary (e.g., office work):add 20 percent to the BMR

                Light Activity (e.g., student, laboratory work):add 30 
                percent to he BMR.

                Moderate Activity (e.g., shop worker):add 40 percent to 
                the BMR.

                Heavy Activity (e.g., outdoor-type occupation):add 50 
                percent to the BMR.

       e) In order to calculate the energy to process food we need to 
          know the number of kilocalories eaten daily to calculate the 
          number of kilocalories necessary to process the ingested 
          food. The energy required to digest and absorb the nutrients 
          in food is about 6 percent of the daily kilocalories.
          Students should total the kilocalories from their basic 
          metabolic rate, voluntary activity and food processing 
          requirement and record the information as follows.

                Basic metabolic rate.................. kilocalories

                Voluntary activity.................... kilocalories
                Energy required for

                food processing....................... kilocalories

                Total energy required daily........... kilocalories

                Total energy intake from diet......... kilocalories

                Difference between total energy
                required and total energy intake
                from diet............................. kilocalories