Download Group 1-Final Paper - Harlem Children Society

Nutrition &Healthy
Living Project
HCS Class of 2009
Nutrition & Healthy Living
Mentor: Brandon Burton
**Group 1
(Sobia Ilyas, Nikida Levy, Isatou Dukuray, Antonio
Galvan, Denzil Davis, Timothy Chen, Kudrat Emin, Carla
Perez)
**
Table of Contents
Nutrition & Healthy Living--page 1
The Food Pyramid--page 3
Obesity & Diabetes--page 9
Cardio Vascular Disease, Socioeconomic Factors, and
Demographics--page 12
Brief Project Description & Analysis--page 18
Trends & Conclusion--page 21
**Abstract
Nutrition involves the nourishment of an individual and
the way he or she keeps a diet in order to sustain life. The purpose
of this project is to bring out the relationship between food
availability, type of neighborhood and people, and health related
conditions. The information provided connects to the work done
during the summer because the site visits helped us determine if a
neighborhood is keeping a proper diet. This paper entails several
tips on how to maintain a healthy life style and the different health
condition that develop due to poor dietary habits.
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**Nutrition & Healthy Living
Nutrition is the study of the materials that nourish an organism and of the
manner in which the separate components are used for maintenance, repair, growth, and
reproduction. Nutrition is achieved in various ways by different forms of life.
Humans require food substances to supply the components necessary to build
tissues, to repair tissues as they wear out and die, to keep the body in good working
condition, and to supply fuel for energy. For good nutrition a person should have a wellbalanced diet, that is, one that provides the proper amounts of each of the classes of
nutrients each day, furnishing at the same time a proper but not excessive number of
calories for the body's energy needs. Children require relatively larger amounts of
nutrients and calories because of their rapid growth. The foods required for proper
nutrition fall roughly into the following major groups: proteins, carbohydrates, fats,
vitamins, minerals, and water.
Proteins are the highly complex organic compounds found in all living
cells and including the most abundant class of all biological molecules. Proteins include
approximately fifty percent of cellular dry weight. Human proteins consist of up to
twenty two different amino acids, of which nine (called essential amino acids) must be
supplied by food; the other thirteen are produced by human cells. Complete protein
sources include those foods containing all twenty two amino acids; includes animal
products such as meat, eggs, cheese, and milk. Incomplete protein sources are products
such as vegetables, beans, and grains. The foods may be combined in order to gain one’s
protein intake.
Calories are the units in which the energy that a food provides in
measured. One’s gender and age range can determine the amount of calories one should
take in one day. The amount of calories one consumes daily can be determined if a
person is inactive, moderately active, or active.
Most health professionals recommend that carbohydrates include fifty to
sixty percent of the dietary calories. Eighty percent of all carbohydrates consumed should
be complex carbohydrates like cereals and vegetables. Carbohydrates are any member of
a large class of chemical compounds that includes sugars, starches, cellulose, and related
compounds.
At the time of the creation of the World Health Organization
(WHO), in 1948, health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental,
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
This definition invited nations to expand the conceptual framework
of their health systems beyond issues related to the physical condition of individuals and
their diseases. Also it motivated us to focus our attention on what we now call social
factors of health. Consequently, WHO challenged political, academic, community and
professional organizations who work to improve or preserving health to make the scope
of their work explicit, including their foundation for allocating resources. This opened the
door for public accountability. However, only a handful of publications have focused
specifically on the definition of health and its evolution in the last sixty years.
In 1986, the WHO, in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, states that
health is “a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living”. Health is a positive
concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.
Classification systems such as the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-
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FIC), which is composed of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability,
and Health (IFC) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) also define
health. Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional,
and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle.
Health includes physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritually wellness.
One can maintain healthy living by exercising every day from ten to
fifteen minutes and also by eating healthy food such as fruits and vegetables and other
cultural foods that one’s people eat. In order to be healthy you should sleep the
recommended hours which is eight hours. Parks and exercising facilities in an area can
motivate an individual to keep exercising and maintain a healthy life style. If one’s job or
school is near home, walking is a mode of exercise. Stress can deteriorate a person’s
well being, therefore, it is not recommended to become stressed out.
**The Food Pyramid
The Food Pyramid is a general guideline of what one should eat daily,
based on the Government Issue called ‘Dietary Guidelines’. Before the Food Pyramid
was published, there was another guideline for healthy living published by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1894. Specifically, it was a Farmers’ Bulletin
written by W.O. Atwater. He was the first director of the Office of Experiment Stations in
the USDA. His recommendations were based on the content of protein, carbohydrate, fat,
and mineral matter. He researched the areas of nutrient requirements, food composition,
food consumption, and consumer economics. These areas are the vital factors of dietary
guidelines. When this dietary recommendation was released, many of the basic vitamins
and minerals had not been discovered yet. This dietary recommendation includes the
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minimum levels of dietary habits that will prevent nutritional deficiencies such as scurvy
and beriberi. Because of this dietary recommendation, many food policies were put into
affect, such as iodine fortification of salt and the enrichment of flour products with
vitamin B. It is said that with the elimination of nutritional deficiencies came the
prominence of issues with obesity, cardio vascular disease, and diabetes. As more
research was done and the knowledge of nutrition expanded, the dietary
recommendation evolved and paved the way for more research and guides for nutrition.
The first food guide was published in 1916, entitled “Food for Young
Children”. Caroline Hunt, a nutritionist and author of this guide, split the groups up into
five categories. The categories include milk and meat, cereals, vegetables and fruits, fats
and fatty foods, and sugars and sugary foods. According to the guide, one person should
have two to three servings of meats and milk, nine servings of bread, which include
cereals and starches, five servings of vegetables and fruits, and finally nine to ten
servings of fats and sugars based on a 1 tablespoon serving. Around the same time, a
Food Committee of the Royal Society recommended that seventy to eighty grams of
protein and three thousand kilocalories of energy should be consumed daily by the
average man. In addition, it was recommended that children's diets should contain "a
considerable proportion" of milk for proper growth and development.
In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt called for a National Nutrition
Conference. Here, the USDA came up with the Recommended Dietary Allowance or the
RDA. The RDA was the official dietary recommendation that was created for the public,
unlike the previous recommendations, which were just considered theories. By 1943 the
“Basic Seven” was introduced by the USDA. The “Basic Seven” are the seven main food
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groups for a balanced diet. The “Basic Seven” includes carbohydrates, proteins, fats,
vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water. To make this easier for people to understand, the
Basic Seven was broken down into the “Basic Four”. These food groups were milk,
meats, fruits and vegetables, and gains. It was in the 1970’s when the USDA introduced a
fifth category to the “Basic Four”. This category was fats, sweets and alcoholic
beverages. The USDA realized that the elimination of these types of food was unrealistic
so they included in the basic food groups but insisted that they be taken in moderately.
By 1988, the USDA decided to use graphics to express the food groups. This
graphic was created to portray three main ideas: variety, proportionality, and
moderation of each food group.
In 1992, the official Food Pyramid was released. The overall goal was t
express the guidelines of the food pyramid clearly enough so that t was easier for
Americans to follow and consequently, America would become a healthier place. Despite
the efforts of the USDA to create a chart that was both informative and easy to
understand, Americans still failed to follow the chart. In 1996, a survey was taken. When
prompted with the statement, “There are so many recommendations about healthy ways
to eat, it's hard to know what to believe”, 40% of people agreed to it.
Dr. Walter Willett, a Harvard scientist, believed he could explain why the
food pyramid was not as effective as anticipated. His theory was that the food pyramid
was extremely flawed. He states that the Pyramid has not kept up with scientific
nutritional research. The original food pyramid made a number of concealed claims in
order to supporting its food list. Some claims were all fats are bad, all complex
carbohydrates are good, protein is protein, dairy products are essential, and potatoes are
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good for you. All of these claims are not entirely true. For example, saturated and transfats are bad, but mono saturated and polyunsaturated fats, as well as fats from fish, nuts,
olive oil, and grains, are good. The Pyramid does not differentiate between refined
carbohydrates, such as pasta, and truly complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain
cereal and bread. Willet also suggested that six to eleven servings of carbohydrates,
as suggested in the pyramid, were too much for one person. The pyramid also failed
to recommend exercising.
After taking into consideration the ideas of Mr. Willet, and scientists
alike, the USDA came up with a new pyramid called “My Pyramid” in 2005. “My
Pyramid” is website with the new pyramid as well as a function that allows people to
calculate their personal healthy food choices, based upon age and activity. This new
pyramid includes the same five categories. A sixty-year-old woman who walks over
thirty minutes a day, five days a week will be able to download an eating plan for one
thousand eight hundred calories. The printout shows five columns, in orange, green, red,
blue, and violet. Each column includes recommended food choices. For a sixty-year-old
active woman, the recommended food choices are six ounces of grains, two and a half
cups of vegetables, two cups of fruit, three cups of milk, and five and a half ounces of
meat and beans.
Another portion of Nutrition would be the Body Mass index or BMI. BMI
is a number that is calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI provides a reliable
indicator of body fat for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may
lead to health problems. BMI is currently the most widely used body weight diagnostic
tool. It is primarily implemented to identify obesity problems. Although the body mass
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index is an accurate representation of weight compared to height, it is not considered
accurate to determine obesity and general body health. The body mass index was
invented in the mid 1900s by a man named Adolphe Quetelet during his research of
social physics.
Refer to the appendix in order to view an example of one’s BMI. Suppose
you weigh 160 pounds and are 5 feet 10 inches tall. Convert you height into inches: (5
feet x 12 inches) + 10 inches = 70 inches. Now square your height: 70 x 70 = 4900.
Divide weight by the squared height: 160 / 4900 = .0326. Finally, multiply by the
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correcting factor of 703 since you're not using metric: .0326 x 703 = 22.9 BMI. The
BMI scale will be provided on appendix one, figure 1B.
Overweight and obesity are both labels for varieties of weight that are
greater than what is generally considered healthy for a given height. The terms also
classify ranges of weight that have been shown to increase the chances of certain diseases
and other health problems. Here is an example of how one can determine whether or not
one is obese.
The food pyramid is a chart that is used for planning diets and it is a
representation of the foods from the different food group’s grain, vegetable, fruit, oil,
dairy and meat, groups. The food pyramid serves as a guide of what we must eat and the
amount of servings of each food groups. The food pyramid serves as a guide of what we
must eat and the amount of servings of each food groups.
The moderation and balance are important in a proper diet because it
ensures eating proper from the different food group. Moderation helps to eat a certain
amount of food.
One may ask why we should eat healthy. There are various reasons why
we should eat healthy. There are various reasons why we should eat healthy. We should
eat healthy to provide the necessary nutrients that our body needs to repair and clean out
the body. Eating healthy can prevent future disease. You will have more energy and more
alert.
The current United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A) was
published in 1992 to replace the earlier food group classification.
The grain group is representing by the orange portion of the pyramid.
Bread, cereal, rice, pasta, and anything else that has grain or starch. Whole grain can
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be found in oatmeal, brown rice, corn and tortillas. The grain portion requires a 6-11
servings of grain product that are recommended per day.
The vegetable group is represented by the green portion of the food
pyramid. A vegetable is a part of a plant composed by humans that is not sweet but
considered healthy. Vegetables contain vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and calcium.
Vegetables are very healthy and low in fat and calories.
The fruit group represents as in the red portion. In fruits, they are sweet
and healthy which may or may not have seeds such as apples, oranges, plum, banana,
kiwi, etc. Fruits are low in calories and fat are source of organic things such as sugar,
fiber and vitamins. It is recommended that 2-4 servings of fruits should be consumed per
day.
The oil group is also represented by the yellow portion between the dairy
and fruit group. Oil has cooking oil, fats and sweets along with some good fat found in
peanut butter and fish. According to the food pyramid fats, oil and sweets should be taken
once per day.
The dairy group is represented by a medium thick blue strip between the
oil and meat groups. Dairy food includes milk yogurt, cheese and etc. Milk is great rich
source of the minerals calcium, protein, phosphorus, vitamin A and vitamin D. However,
many dairy products are high in saturated fat and cholesterols. For adults it is
recommended that you take 3 cups of dairy products per day.
Meat, Poultry, fish, dry beans, and eggs are good sources of protein
as well as iron, zinc and vitamins. Meat, Poultry, fish, pork, shrimp and eggs are
although, are often high in fat and sodium.
The government has been concerned about the food pyramid because over
the years Americans have been having poor diet condition and leading diseases.
Therefore, the most updated was in 2005 to help parents and young adults understand
what to consume. It is usually two dimensional food pyramid but now we have multidimensional pyramid. The pyramid includes exercise at lease 30-45 minutes. The current
food pyramid has a figure walking up the stairs that represents exercise.
According to Joel Fuhrman, MD, patience who se life depends on losing
weight.” If you want to live longer, reduce the need for medication and frankly will lose
weight.”
** Obesity & Diabetes
Obesity is a cardio vascular disorder that is mainly caused by an excessive
amount of body fat that the body produces. Body Mass Index (BMI) was introduced in
order to determine if people are obese or overweight. BMI has a set up scale for both
adults and children. For an adult that is 5’9” if the person weighs 200 or more and has a
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BMI or 30.0 or beyond is considered to be obese. For children obesity is defined
relatively the same as an adult. When doing a physical, doctors usually determine if a
person is obese with the weight that the person currently weighs and their height.
The most common mistake that obesity is confused by is overweight.
Being overweight is just when the weigh is excessive than the recommended weight that
a person should be, depending on the person’s height. Obesity is defined as the process of
the body producing excessive amounts of body fat. For example, if a person eats
certain types of foods some people have different reactions when the body transfers
calories into body fat. Some people do not receive as much body fat and others produce
more.
In New York City the majority of the people that suffer from obesity are
African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. Comparing these statistics to the white people
there is a difference. While in the other states obesity in Colorado is not much of a greater
rate meaning that Colorado is considered the healthiest of the United States. While
Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia are
populated with more people that are obese. Obesity is one of the deadliest disorders that
Americans die from due to the illnesses that it leads to like diabetes or even heart failure
due to high amount of fat that clots blood vessels or disrupts some parts of the body.
Diabetes is mainly known to affect the minority groups like AfricanAmericans and Hispanics/Latinos and the aged group (older people). There are two types
of Diabetes Type 1 (IDDM) and Type 2 (NIDDM). Type 1 is closely related to kids being
affected with it and it’s often called juvenile diabetes. In this type of Diabetes insulin is
not frequently produced which means that the body does not get as much energy that it
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needs because insulin is the hormone that breaks down starches to make glucose which is
energy. Type 2 is more common to the group of people that were previously mentioned
above and in this situation insulin is not made (similar to Type 1) or the cells do not
detect the insulin that was made. In this situation if the cells ignore the glucose that was
made it would damage the eye, liver, and heart.
The pro’s of having diabetes is that diabetes makes people have a healthy
lifestyle because they have to eat little bits of fat and most of the foods are vegetables and
other healthy produce. The con’s is that diabetes affects the way certain medications
when they are giving because it would damage the person’s immune system or it would
cause a person’s death. When a person has diabetes they use a meter which detects the
amount of glucose in the blood. If the meter reads beyond 200 then that is a sign of
high level of glucose therefore its recommended for the person to do some physical
activities like walking or jogging.
Obesity relates to diabetes because it’s what causes diabetes to happen.
The high amounts of fat in the body affect the veins which the cells do not get enough
glucose that it needs. If a person is obese and diabetic then there is a life risking chance
of the person dying. Both types of diabetes can affect main organs that pumps out blood
or that produces the most needed substances. The organs that are affected are the liver,
heart, and kidney.
Doctors often make their patients go to daily check-ups, but only
during the first few weeks of understanding the procedures to treat diabetes and prevent
any cardiovascular attacks for its effects. Once the patient knows more about diabetes the
doctor would then start making fewer appointments. When people have diabetes it’s
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mainly because of their eating habits. Some communities advertise healthy food while
others advertise unhealthy foods such as fast food restaurants. The main reason for people
to get these diseases is that the healthy foods are not as cheap as unhealthy food.
Statistics shows that out of the 23.6 million people that live in the
United States only 8% are diagnosed with diabetes. Although there is no cure for diabetes
it is only treatable which means that doctors subscribe medicine for their patients to take
in order to help the insulin function. Although they’re believes in which the medicine
does not work it is still not proven because scientist believe it just might be side effects.
Even though a person might have diabetes it’s not much of a worry because it helps
improve a better life style and even though you don’t have it does not mean that you are
safe, but it means that your body must be protected and well taken care of. If you’re
obese seek out for help. The community that you live in might hold social events
that include physical activities, awareness, and having a healthy life style.
**Cardio Vascular Disease, Socioeconomic Factors, and Demographics
The human body operates with the main system of the heart to pump
blood while the other parts follow its lead to some extent. In order to help with keeping a
healthy body cardiovascular activities from swimming to jogging are recommended.
Without any exercise, it can lead to cardiovascular disease. This is a disease that affects
the hearts and vessels in the body. With it there are more issues with the human body as it
has a harder time functioning and acting normally. With obtaining the disease the risk of
death dyeing and the life span is also lowered. By also contracting the disease the, person
is also deal with having a disability having another painful affect. Cardiovascular is
something that the human race must realize as an important task that we must fulfill by
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staying active.
Cardiovascular disease is important to study because of its major effect it
has caused during the past. Interestingly enough it is labeled to be the leading cause for
death for all humans in our country of the United States. The leading cause of death from
cardiovascular disease targets the races of American Indians, blacks, Hispanics, Alaska
Natives, and whites. During the year 2005, 652,091 people died of heart disease, of
which just over half were females. The most appealing and current information provided
also states that ”in 2009, heart disease is projected to cost more than $304.6 billion,
including health care services, medications, and lost productivity”. As shown health is a
very important issue that the United States spends abundant amounts of money. If
people were more aware and motivated to staying active the levels of people with
the disease would decrease.
Nutrition is comprised of many factors that help with building it. They
include factors such as socioeconomic factors, environments, and demographics of all
kinds. Socioeconomic factors are determinants consisting , the of income, ethnicity and
community. Environments tell a story about what is offered type of people that are living
there and how the setting is treated. Demographics raise issues and ideas about unfair
judgment and treatment with racist impressions. These as a group can help to target
certain areas that are in need of nutrition education and help to help with health in the
United States.
Socioeconomic factors, environments, and demographics all affect
nutrition in the United States that raise biased and unfair complaints. Socioeconomic
factors present the majority of a community with its race on their output of healthy
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people. With a community full of blacks their income is commonly low class and they
produce a high amount of unhealthy nutritious people. Although within a high class
community filled with Caucasian people the risk of finding someone who is unhealthy is
very rare. Then environments also help when they contribute to facilities for exercise,
cleanliness, and availability to what someone can obtain to eat. Ultimately demographics
are the best way to show factual information that certain environments gain more
attention to health and nutrition. These stats show the difference in race,
relationships of people, and income levels to compare through different environments and
territory.
Nutrition includes other factors besides food that is one of its major parts.
Someone can eat very healthy and still be very unhealthy. Exercise and becoming active
is another major part to become a very healthy person. Without proper facilities and parks
to exercise people can damage their bodies and it can lead to even more risk for
problems. This calls for gyms with pools, tracks, weight rooms and more to actively
incorporate your body to get blood flowing and moving all over. A park can also help
with large spaces of recreation to jog, run, play sports and have many activities. Some
ideas are presented that the care of a community with low income is provided with less
facilities to exercise as opposed to someone who is in a wealthy community. At times it
also expressed that the non-wealthy have some facilities but the equipment is poor that is
broken, cheap and not safe to use. This is why it also important to address communities
with more facilities and the use of them that can help us to become healthy and nutritious
people.
Cardiovascular disease is any abnormal condition characterized by
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dysfunction of the heart and the blood vessels. Heart disease is the leading cause of death
for both women and men in the United States. Heart disease is the leading cause of death
for Americans, Indians and Alaska Natives, Blacks, Hispanics and also whites. Including
worldwide, cardiovascular disease killed more than 7.6 million people in 2005.
Cardiovascular disease can cause or refer to many different types of heart
or blood vessels problem, the heat is sort of a pump’s a muscular organ. Our heat is
divided into the right and the left side. The division protects oxygen rich blood from
mixing with the other bad blood. Therefore, in other words, when a person has
cardiovascular disease this division starts to damage the blood vessels and veins.
Deoxygenated blood and oxygenated blood and oxygenated rich blood mixes and
eventually leads to a problem.
Cardiovascular disease is caused by narrowed, blocked or stiffened a
blood vessel that makes it hard for the heart, brain and other parts of the body to receive
enough blood. The cardiovascular disease symptoms include chest pain, shortness of
breath, pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arm, a fast/slow heart beat.
You might not be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease until the condition worsens such
as having a heart attack, cardiac arrest or stroke.
There are some risk factors that we should consider. This risk factor
doesn’t mean when you have it, you will have it. It’s a 50/50 chance of developing
diseases because as you get older you don’t get enough physical activities done or burn
calories and cholesterol.
As you get older there is a risk of damaged and narrowed and weakens or
thickened heart muscle which can lead to heart disease.
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It has been said that, men are able to have greater risk of heart disease than
woman. Men usually are able to die from diseases because women often gets sick than
men. As woman adapt to it and men are not used to it so they aren’t able to defend
themselves.
Family history of heart disease increases a child/family member’s risk of
coronary artery diseases especially if your ancestors have it. There is even a greater risk
of developing the disease.
Poor hygiene, Poor diet, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterols level
and also smoking may lead to serious heart injuries. The way your lifestyle is depends on
you. One should be able to maintain its health and engage into a healthy lifestyle.
It’s also recommended that if you’re facing problems to certain point be
mindful and candid to your doctor. With cardiovascular disease you could be in
danger at any times and anywhere. Record down any symptoms that you’re
experiencing and personal information.
There are such ways in which you can diagnose cardiovascular disease.
Your doctor will likely perform a physical exam and would ask about your family
medical history before being able to take action. Some ways that cardiovascular disease
can be detected are having a blood test. Blood test would be able to tell your cholesterol
level and blood counts. Chest X-ray, Holster monitoring and Echocardiogram these are
devices that can give a picture of the respiratory system and how its working.
The major goal in curing for cardiovascular disease is basically to open
narrowed arteries that may cause problem. You can help treat yourself by changing for
bad life style to a healthy one such as exercising and a balance diet. Medication can also
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be given by doctors to help disseminate blood throughout the body. Surgery can also be
taken to clear blockage in the heart.
Heart disease can be prevented by making certain changes in your life. A
person can stop smoking, control cholesterols level, blood pressure, keep diabetes control
and even when you’re old you can get it moving by taking a walk, eating healthy food
and manage stress.
In the year, 2003 approximately 37% of adults have reported having two
or more of sox risk factors of heart disease. The percent of adults aged 18 years and older
who engage in no physical activity has been increasing over time.
In 2009,heart disease is when is been high has to cost up to more than
$304.6 billion including health care services, medications and lost productivity.
Studies among physicians among people with heart disease with have shown that
lowering high cholesterol level and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Demographics is a general idea of the people living in a specific area. It is
comprised of qualities such as age, religion, nationality, and income. Many people do not
realize the impact these characteristics have on a person’s life. The types of food a
person’s religion or ethnic background demands, or forbid, will determine whether these
groups of people receive the nutrition our bodies need. In the long run, this malnutrition
can severely impact the longevity of an entire race or group of religious believers.
Income also plays a role in a person’s health. Through our observations,
we noticed that unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food, and in most cases, it is also
easier to obtain. Fast food restaurants can be found on the corner of almost any block,
while supermarkets and fruit stands often require a long walk, if not a bus ride. Many
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popular fast food restaurants now open until very late at night, making unhealthy food
available near bedtime. Research has shown that eating habits like this may lead to being
overweight. Even in grocery stores, candy, snacks, and cereal overpopulate fruits and
vegetables. Aisle upon aisles are piled with soda, where as water and juice only get one
shelf in the back of the store.
As children, our tastes buds often call out for sweets more than anything
else. Although fruits may satisfy this desire, parents may find it more convenient to just
buy a bag of candy for their kids rather than wash and prepare fresh fruits for them. Fruits
are also sometimes more expensive, costing a few dollars per pound, where as a bag of
candy can be as little as one dollar. As adolescents, we want things fast and simple.
We’re often too lazy to cook a healthy meal for ourselves and we’ll settle for
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fattening foods around the house that are easier to make. Examples of this may be
Macaroni and Cheese, or frozen pizza, both containing lots of calories and preservatives.
Jogging is probably one of the most common form of cardio exercise. It is
a great way to lose weight and stay healthy. All you really need is a long clear path to run
on. While it is possible to jog around any block, many people prefer jogging in a park.
This is where the environment has an impact on an individual’s health. Parks usually
have trees and other plants, which produce fresh air for us to breath. An alternative to
exercising outdoors is signing up for membership for a gym, but it dos not offer the same
benefits as exercising out door. This may be an important reason people choose not to
sign up for gym membership but in reality, the main reason is because people simply
don’t want to pay for it.
**Brief Project Description & Analysis
Our purpose was to find the relationship between quality food and health
related conditions. Before further ado, we came up with a hypothesis on our purpose.
Low income areas have poorer quality food and limited availability of fresh food from
local food suppliers. These neighborhoods have fewer health facilities such as fitness
centers, parks, nutritional supplement retailers and healthy food stores. These areas are
more prone to health related illnesses and conditions; such as obesity and diabetes. Food
retailers of natural and organic products do not open businesses in low income areas due
to the income level, taxes, and high crime rates. Low income consumers do not
patronize these businesses due residence, lack of health education and high prices of
good quality foods.
Everyone in the Nutrition Project had to fill out a Daily Food Log that had
to be submitted every week. On our Daily Food Log chart what we had to fill out were
the times we had our food and how many calories have we had that day, the number of
cups of water that we drank and how many times have we done any kinds of physical
exercise for how many minutes. This would help see how healthy are the foods we eat
and according to that; how often and for how many minutes do we have to exercise.
We visited different sites in the five boroughs and compared them with
each other. Our group has visited Farmers Market, Supermarket and Grocery Store in
Washington Heights – Manhattan, Prospect Park East – Brooklyn, 241st ST – Bronx, and
Staten Island. When we visited those sites we took notes all the three different types of
markets, how their prices differentiate, their presentations, where do the foods come
from, how does the neighborhood look like, high income or low income, and so on. Out
of all these sites we visited, 241st ST – Bronx was the worst of all because there was only
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on stand in the Farmers Market, there was no Supermarket, the Grocery Store was good
enough, there were no Restaurants but Fast Food, we did not see a school, park or a
fitness facility nearby and it was a low income area. Well all these information about
241st ST are a reason why people there are most likely to be obese or have diabetes for
they are not able to get healthy, organic or fresh food and they rarely travel to buy food.
The best site was Prospect Park – Brooklyn, even though the Farmers Market was not
really crowded but there were so many Grocery Stores, Restaurants, no Fast Food, Banks,
the Prospect Park, a school and the area is not really a low income area. Moreover there
were so many people jogging in the street or walking their pets, but unfortunately
we have not seen anyone doing any kinds of exercises in 241st ST –Bronx which
means they are not well educated or had no education about healthy living.
Our mentor Brandon Burton alongside Co-mentors Rami and Scott were
with us on our site visits. Mr. Burton was the one who made our schedules for the site
visits and decided the locations as well by using GIS. The term GIS stands for
Geographic Information System; it allows us to view, comprehend, question, interpret,
and visualize information in various forms that show relationship patterns and trends in
the form of maps, globes, reports and charts.
The information provided in this paper does apply to the work done this
summer. The students in the nutrition program were broken down into ten groups. The
students went on site visits to different boroughs. In order to determine if the people in
the
neighborhoods of their respective borough were receiving the proper goods to
maintain a healthy life style, observations of the environment, types of people, and stores
had to be made. From the observations based on these factors, it would be determined if
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the people in a neighborhood suffer from health related conditions and if they maintain a
proper diet.
The food logs were used in order to determine if the students in the
nutrition program were receiving the proper foods, exercise, and amount of water. Five
out of ten students whose food logs were looked at resulted to not be eating healthy. Also
their water intake was low; therefore, they didn’t drink eight glasses of water a day.
It was also determined that some of the students did not exercise properly based on
the types of foods they ate and the calorie intake.
Several tips are brought out in order for a person to maintain healthy.
Eating the proper portions of the different groups of the food pyramid is recommended
and exercising can help a person prevent conditions like cardio vascular disease, obesity,
and diabetes. Fatty foods and sugary foods should be eaten sparingly, therefore, they
shouldn’t be eaten too frequently. Sleeping eight hours is recommended because a person
can develop stress from not sleeping the recommended eight hours. Watching one’s
calorie intake can also help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Refer to appendix one, figure 1C.
**Trends & Conclusion
There is a correlation between the health-related diseases and the
distribution and availability of produce. If a good that can prevent a health-related
condition is not available in a neighborhood, it can be concluded that the rates of healthrelated conditions is high or increases throughout a period of time. However, if a good is
available, the rates of health-related conditions are low.
The Central Place Theory can be a factor to the correlation between the healthrelated conditions and the distribution or availability of produce. The Central Place
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Theory was developed by Walter Christaller. The theory was developed to explain the
size and the spacing of cities that specialize themselves in selling their goods and offering
their services.
The Central Place Theory is made up of two basic concepts. The first concept
is threshold. Threshold explains the minimum market that is needed to bring a firm or
city selling goods and offering their services. The firm or city has to be kept into
existence and kept in business. The second concept that makes up the Central
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Place Theory is range. The range explains the average maximum distance people
in a neighborhood have to travel in order to acquire or purchase goods and receive
services.
Several other factors contribute to the connection between health related
conditions and the availability of produce. The age range and ethnic background
contribute to the connection because distributors may supply goods based on the age
range and ethnic backgrounds present in the neighborhood. Income and household are
two other factors because one’s income can determine if a family is able to buy high
quality foods. One’s household can determine if the individuals in a household are in
proper living conditions.
There are several solutions that can be brought out in order to solve
problems in trends. More farmer’s markets can be come together and sell their goods to
the people in a neighborhood. Also more health facilities should be accessible to the
members of a community, therefore, so they can buy high quality goods. More educative
programs should be available as well so the members of a community can be able to
educate themselves about health conditions and eating healthier foods.
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In the city of New York, farmer’s markets are available for the people in
New York to buy organic goods such as vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish. The farmer’s
markets give the people of New York the chance to purchase goods that have not been
processed with hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics. Also there are websites like My
Pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) that can educate people about the food pyramid and the
portions that they should eat of each group. Most people do not know about the health
related conditions that a poor diet and life style can develop, therefore, Noah-health
(www.noah-health.gov) is a website created by the government that educates people
about diseases.
**Appendix
Appendix 1-figure 1A shows the food pyramid, the
different food groups, and the recommended servings
one should consume daily.
Appendix 1-figure 1B shows the BMI scale. Once a
person’s BMI is calculated, the scale can be looked at in
order to determine if one is underweight, normal weight,
overweight, or obese
** Bibliography
 Delores, James C.S. "Nutrition and Well Being." Mac Millan Reference.
Web. 13 Aug. 2009.
 Sales, Promotions, and Food Consumptions." Pub Med. Web. 13 Aug.
2009.
 "Nutrition Research." Jan. 2008. Web.
 Greenmarket Farmers Markets- http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket
 Census Bureau- http://www.census.gov/