Kent State Interns

Changes in diet behavior when adults become parents When adults become parents, their lifestyle changes, and their eating habits might be affected. The lifestyle-related chronic diseases are increasing among adults and children every year. Children diet and food preference are most of the time affected by parents’ diet behavior. On the other hand, parents diet might change as a result of having children. There are several factors associated with this issue, mainly: finance and time management. A cross sectional study by Laroche et al., (2012) was designed to measure the dietary habits of adults before they become parents and up to 7 years of having a child. The aim was to see weather their diet pattern will change when they become a parent. They measured total energy intake, percent of energy from saturated fats, servings of fruit and vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages per day, and fast food intake per month. This study failed to find significant difference before and after...

Reduction in Food Away from Home Is Associated with Improved Child Relative Weight and Body Composition Outcomes and This Relation Is Mediated by Changes in Diet Quality The prevalence of obesity and overweight is increasing every year in the United States. One of the main factors that contribute to this is increase caloric intake. Due to several environmental and societal changes, earing away from home is increasing every year since the mid 1970s and nowadays it became part of the American diet. People tend to consume more convenient food and eat at restaurants, most of the times these food items differ from the food prepared at home in terms of quantity and quality, therefore it is assumed to negatively impact health status. A study by Altman et al., (2015) aimed to measure the effect of eating food away from home and its association to changes in weight, body composition, and diet quality. They examined 241 child-parent dyads, which completed 16 weeks (family based behavi...

Differential improvements in student fruit and vegetable selection and consumption in response to the new National School Lunch Program regulations: A pilot study The National School Lunch Program serves lunch to more than 30 million school students, and breakfast to more than 13 million students daily. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act came into existence in 2010, allowing the USDA to improve the school lunch/breakfast program, by setting new guidelines and regulations. The amount of fruit and vegetables in the new guidelines was: at least two servings of vegetables and one serving fruit per lunch. I addition, it specifies the type/color of vegetable or other food items to be served weekly/daily (eg. dark green, red, starchy, legume).   In 2011, Cullen, Chen, Dave & Jensen, hypothesized that the new guidelines will result in increase selection and consumption of fruit and vegetables by students. A total of twenty-six elementary schools and ten intermediate schools were...

Snacking Behaviors, Diet Quality, and Body Mass Index in a Community Sample of Working Adults Snacking behavior (eating between main meals) has been increasing among during the last several decades. Some researchers hypothesized that snacking is associated with weight gain due to increase fat and carbohydrate consumption. Others have found it is linked to balancing the energy intake throughout the day and decrease overeating from main meals. A research by Barnes et al., (2015) was done to measure sacking behavior and its association with diet quality and BMI. Three days dietary intake of 233 adults was measured and snacking behavior (type/quantity/time of snacks consumed between meals) were assessed. The USDA healthy eating quality index was used to assess diet quality. Data shows that snacking behavior occur 2 times per day on average for each participant with mean energy intake of 400 calories. The most consumed snacks among participants were cakes and cookies, followed by t...

Webb, D. (2014, November). Farewell to the 3,500 calorie rule. Today’s Dietitian , 26(11), 36. Retrieved from http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/111114p36.shtml Researchers have developed a new mathematical formula for weight loss, replacing the typical weight loss rule of “burn more calories than you consume.”   Rule of thumb that every dietitian has been taught since its establishment in 1958, is that cutting food intake by 500 calories per day, for a total of 3,500 calories per week, results in a one-pound weight loss.   Although this rule works fairly well for individuals wanting to lose a few pounds, it’s not as effective for those aiming to lose a significant amount because it doesn’t take into account gender, physical activity, lifestyle changes, or changes in energy balance.   The new formula, Body Weight Simulator, factors in the decline in metabolic rate that occurs when body mass decreases.   It can be found at www.niddk.nih.gov/rese...

Processed And Red Meat Could Cause Cancer? Your Questions Answered Source:  http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/26/451950828/processed-and-red-meat-could-cause-cancer-your-questions-answered A statement released recently by the World Health Organization declares processed meats are cancer causing. Additionally, it declared red meats as carcinogenic. As one can imagine, this news took the internet quickly by storm. But what does this statement mean exactly? Broken down in this article, it is explained how the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) came to its conclusion. After reviewing hundreds of studies which compared the association of cancer with consumption of processed or red meats, the IARC found strong evidence links certain types of cancer with consumption of processed meats (chicken and turkey included) and red meat such as beef, veal, pork, lamb, or goat. It was also found that methods of processing and cooking c...

“The Mediterranean Diet: Is It the Food or the Lifestyle?” Article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/the-mediterranean-diet-is-it-the-food-or-the-lifestyle/?_r=0 Data Source: http://www.eatright.org/resource/food/planning-and-prep/cooking-tips-and-trends/make-it-mediterranean                       In a new documentary film, “Pioppi Protocol”, led by a British cardiologist, the Mediterranean diet is being re-examined as not only a food approach, but a variety of lifestyle factors that act together.   The film takes place in Pioppi, Italy, where Ancel Keys, the first scientist to boast the advantages of a Mediterranean diet, spent most of his later years.   The average lifespan in Pioppi is 90 years, warranting more research into all factors affecting health in that area.   Other factors observed include: people savoring their food and treating all meals ...