an adolescent. The adolescent is a female aged 16 from the upper class social group living in Williamsburg, Wrginia. The location of my
observations is at the McDonald’s fast food establishment where teenagers frequent forfast foods. The teenagers were eating a variety of
foods and drinks. She first ordered medium French fries, which have 370 calories and 10 piece chicken nuggets,which has 470 calories.
After she finished eating that she ordered a fried chicken sandwich, which have 670 calories and a bottle of soda,which have 140 calories.
The meal was eaten at unch, meaning that it is one third ofthe teenager’s nutritional needsforthe day. The foods consumed during this
meal do not match the recommendations of her Iifecycle. It exceedsthe recommendations by far.

Though teenagers require more calories

than aduIts,the amount taken by this girl far exceed the recommended. Teenage girls need 1800 to 2200 calories a day ifthey are age 14 to
18. Their gender, body size, growth rate and activity Iev el will determine how many caloriesthey need.1 Therefore, a female teenager
should take between 500 and 800 calories per meal in average. The meal that the teenage girl in question hastaken has more than 1500
calories. Adolescent girls who take too much fat and ortoo little fiber may experience menarche earlier than other girls, especially if

they are inactiv e.2Ateenage girl of between 13 and 18 years needs much iron and calcium intake, because these minerals are vital fortheir
reproductive growth. Adolescents experience rapid bone growth and inadequate calcium intake can harm their process. The Al for calcium
increasesfrom 800 mg for children age 4 to 8 to 1300 mg forthose age 9 to 18.2 Adolescents need additional iron to

support muscle

growth and increased blood volume. Adolescent girls need more iron to supportthe onset of menstruation. The RDAfor girls age 14 to 18 is
15 mg per day. Iron needs are highest during growth spurts and afterthe onset of menstruation.2 Atamin Ais only present in the chicken
sandwich,fitamin C is present in the chicken sandwich, in the chicken nuggets and the fries, as well as Calcium and Iron (minerals).
Americans get the majority oftheir calcium from dairy products. Half ofthe Americans dietary iron intake comesfrom iron enriched bread
and other grain foods such as cereals. Meat, fish, pou try and egg yolks are good sources of ron as well.

Adolescents are influence by

friends, media, and other non-parentaI role models. This may lead them to adopt unhealthy eating habits like skipping meals, choosing junk
foods, dieting or smoking. Being healthy can be achieved if human beings start eating a ba anced mealsthat contain nutrients,vitamins and
minerals. There are several things I witnessed that may hinder thisteenager from achieving the nutritional goals of a healthy diet. First,
there were no fruits and vegetables in the meal taken bythe teenager, meaning that the meal lacked in roughage and essential vitamins.
SecondIy,the teenager did not take any water, which is an essential requirement in any heaIthy)diet. The water content in soda is not

enough orthe requirements ofthe human body. The teenager needsto improve her eating ha its by ensuring thatthere is a right balance of
proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins in their diet. The teenager girl should take a dietthat has low calories and high nutrition density.

For exampIe,when eating out she should replace the bottle of soda with water. Secondly, she should try and eat grilled chicken with smaller
servings of fries. This would reduce the number of calories taken during each meal.

The role of public health nutritionists isto provide

relevant advice that would enable individuals make the right dietary decisionsthatwill improve their health. Theirwork isto ensure that
information about proper dietary procedures is disseminated far and wide to ensure thatthe all people know whatthey need to eat.

MY

CLASSMATES ESSAY (FALCONE)

I observed a man prepare and eat a so-called dinner yesterday1evening. He is a 35 year old man and was raised

in a financially unstab e environment. Growing up his mother ad to be creative to feed the children. Then when he was serving in the
military, properfood was scarce at times and he resorted to cheap and easy foods. One of his favorite foods, if you can even call it food,

is Ramen noodles, which he flavors with various ingredients or condiments. Yesterday evening he prepared pasta with tomato juice. He ate
about 2.5 cups ofthis concoction,fIavored with Frank’ hot sauce, salt, pepper and red pepperflakes. For a male in his age range, he

needs 38g of dietary Fiber in one day and this meal provided 6g. The total carbohydrates was 94g ofthe recommended daily of 13og. As far
astotal fat, he consumed 3g ofthe necessary 20-35g. His intake ofvitamin Awas only 10% ofthe daily recommended intake while Atamin C
was 120%. This meal only provided 2% of calcium, 3mg ofthe needed 8mg of Iron, 35% of Thiamin, 60% of FoIate,30% Riboflavin, 30% Niacin,
and 26% of daily recommended dose of Potassium. This meal was high in Atamin C, Carbohydrates, and Thiamin, but lacked much ofthe needed
vitamin and minerals. The subject is not overweight, but not exactly in great shape either. This dish is a comfort food as his mom used to
make it a lot and he enjoysthe taste. From a nutritional standpoint,the subject should have added a little meat and several fresh veggies
or maybe a side of spinach salad to help improve his vitamin and element intake, especiallyvitamin B which this meal lacked greatly. All

of his eating habitstend to shy away from fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods. Being raised in a very small town in West

Arginia with little to no money limited his food variety and he does not like to try new foods. For his future heaIth,I hope he makesthe
effortto make healthier food choices instead of Ramen noodle or macaroni surprise. Every day thatl see him, I tryto get him to taste

new, healthierfoods and explain the unhealthy nature of pre-packaged foods. Considering his age and health struggles with kidney stones,I
expounded on the importance of potassium in his dietfor kidney health and hope that some information will help him make healthierfood
choices in the future.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Discuss your classmates’ observational findings. Explain why you agree or disagree with your

classmates’ evaluation, using in-text citations. When you agree with a statement or a suggestion, you must explain why using details. If

you disagree with a statement, be sure to cite reasons and ackthem up with appropriate sources.

2. Think about health prioritiesfor this

individual as well as health concerns. Offer additional, specific suggestions or changes. This response must be detailed by discussing
calories, specificvitamins and minerals, and concerns.

Address or elaborate on your classmates’ suggestions related to the role of a

public health nutritionist.

Each reply must be a minimum of 200-300 words.