Assignment Goals
The goals of the Diet Analysis assignment are for you to:
1. Apply the scientific method by:
o collecting data using a 3-day food record
o entering the data into MyFitnessPal
o analyzing the data to determine how the results compare to recommendations and your previously written hypothesis statements
o writing a report on your findings
2. Understand your usual dietary habits and identify changes to improve your health.
Note: You will not be graded on your dietary habits; you will be graded on your performance applying the scientific method.
Using MyFitnessPal
We will be using free software called MyFitnessPal (https://www.myfitnesspal.com (Links to an external site.)). You will use it to track your food and beverage intake for this assignment.
Note: You are required to use MyFitnessPal for this project. No other software can be used.
Getting started using the MyFitnessPal website
• NOTE: These instructions use the MyFitnessPal website. If you use the MyFitnessPal app, please use the Getting started using the MyFitnessPal app instructions.
• The first time you go to the website you will need to set up your account by clicking on “Sign Up”; follow the directions to establish an account with an email and password.
• Enter information in the “Tell Us About Yourself” section, including:
o Current weight
o Height
o Goal weight
o Gender
o Date of birth
o Username (please make note of your username; you will need it for later access)
o Normal daily activities (choose the option that best describes your activities)
o Leave the exercise information blank (times you plan to exercise, minutes/workout time)
o Choose ‘calories’ to keep track of your expended energy
• Click on “Sign Up” and then “Get Started Now”.
• Correct the recommendations for potassium. Recommendations have recently changed and MyFitnessPal hasn’t been updated to reflect this. Use the following instructions to correct this:
o On the website select My Home > Goals > Edit on the Micronutrients section
o Scroll down to potassium and edit the recommendation to reflect the appropriate recommendation below for your gender and age group:
Female age 14-18: 2300 mg
Female age 19+: 2600 mg
Male age 14-18: 3000 mg
Male age 19+: 3400 mg
o Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen
Recording and entering your food/beverage intake
Note: Watch the Using MyFitnessPal video (Links to an external site.) for tips on entering your food/beverage intake.
• Log on to https://www.myfitnesspal.com (Links to an external site.). If you are logging on after the first time, click on “Log In” in the upper right of the website.
• Enter your username and password. Click on “Log In”.
• Click on the “Food” tab on the top navigation bar and then select the appropriate day on the calendar.
o Record everything you eat and drink for three days in a row.
o Try to avoid altering your typical eating habits as you go through this process. It is human nature to under-report food intake, so please strive for accuracy.
o DO NOT include vitamin/mineral/herbal supplements in the data entry.
• Click on “Add Food” to enter foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Adding foods/beverages under the appropriate meal/snack will allow you to see how your intake is distributed throughout the day.
• Use the search function to find specific foods for each meal/snack.
• Select the food/beverage from the list that most closely match those that you ate/drank.
o Whenever possible, select foods that have the green shield ( ) as these foods have complete nutrition information and will provide the most accurate results.
o Be sure to record serving sizes and quantities accurately (see below for serving size guidelines).
• Try to avoid selecting units in the metric system.
• Sometimes, “fluid ounces” and “ounces” are confused. Use fluid ounces (fl oz) for liquids; use ounces (oz) for weighed foods.
• NOTE: Not all foods will be found. Find the food in the database that most closely matches what you actually ate.
• After completing your entry for Day 1 (example), select the next day from the calendar and enter all foods consumed. Repeat for the third day.
Serving size guidelines
• A scoop of ice cream = 1/2 cup
• A fist = 1 cup
• A thumb = 1 ounce
• Pair of dice = 1 ounce of cheese
• A handful = 1-2 ounces of snack food
• Palm of hand = 3 ounces of meat
Compiling your data
Note: Watch the Compiling Your Data video (Links to an external site.) for tips on completing the nutrient data table for your report.
• After completing your 3 days of food entry, select the “Reports” tab on the top navigation bar.
• Click on “Charts”; record the actual data from each day and the “Daily Goal” in the table below.
o Select the appropriate report from the “Choose a report” drop-down list.
o Record amounts consumed as seen in the bar chart for each nutrient (example).
o To calculate the “Average Intake” value in the table below, use the following formula:
Average Intake = (Day 1 Intake + Day 2 Intake + Day 3 Intake) / 3
For example: (2400 + 2800 + 3000) / 3 = 2,733
To see the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal value, hover the mouse over the red “Daily Goal” line in the chart.
Nutrient Data Table
Day 1 Intake Day 2 Intake Day 3 Intake Average Intake MyFitnessPal Daily Goal
Calories (kcal)
Carbohydrates (g)
Fiber (g)
Fat (g)
Saturated Fat (g)
Protein (g)
Sodium (mg)
Potassium (mg)
Vitamin A (%RDA)
Vitamin C (%RDA)
Iron (%RDA)
Calcium (%RDA)
Analyzing your data
After completing the table above, analyze your diet by using the following questions to help you write your report:
• How does your “Average Intake” compare to the “MyFitnessPal Daily Goal”? (When writing your report, always compare the “Average Intake” value to the “MyFitnessPal Daily Goal” value from the table you completed.)
• What specific food/beverage changes can you make to better meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal for each area? (Examples of specific foods are bananas, milk, peppers, brown rice, etc. Food groups such as ‘fruits’, ‘vegetables’, and ‘protein’ are not considered specific foods for this assignment.)
• How do your percentage of calories from each macronutrient compare to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR)?
o To calculate your percentage of calories from each macronutrient use the following formula:
% of calories = [(average intake X calories in one gram of that macronutrient) / average calorie intake] x 100
For example, if your average intake of carbohydrates is 230 grams and your average calorie intake is 2000 calories, the formula would be [(230 X 4) / 2000] x 100 = 46%. You could then compare your % of carbohydrate calories (46%) to the AMDR for carbohydrates (45-65%).
Writing your report
When writing your paper, be sure to include all of the topics below. You can also use the Diet Analysis Template and Instructions Download Diet Analysis Template and Instructionsto help write your paper. Here are the topics and what should be included. (Tip: It is encouraged to use these as headers)
Cover page
• project name
• course name
• your name
• date
Introduction
• purpose of the paper
• your three hypothesis statements from the assignment earlier this semester
Data
• completed nutrient table from the previous page of these instructions
Energy (Calorie) Intake Analysis
• comparison to MyFitnessPal Daily Goal
• comparison to hypothesis statement
• specific food/beverage changes to better meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal
Macronutrient Analysis
• comparison to MyFitnessPal Daily Goal for each macronutrient
• comparison to hypothesis statement in appropriate section
• calculation of the percentage of calories from each macronutrient
• comparison to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range for each macronutrient
• specific food/beverage changes to better meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal for each macronutrient (or specific foods/beverages that contributed to you meeting the goal)
• macronutrient analysis must include:
o Carbohydrates (including fiber)
o Fat (including saturated fat)
o Protein
Micronutrient Analysis
• comparison to MyFitnessPal Daily Goal for each micronutrient
• comparison to hypothesis statement in appropriate section
• specific food/beverage changes to better meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal for each micronutrient (or specific foods/beverages that contributed to you meeting the goal)
• micronutrient analysis must include:
o Sodium
o Potassium
o Vitamin A
o Vitamin C
o Iron
o Calcium
Discussion
• at least one potential source of error from your data entry
• how this error might have impacted your analysis
• discussion on the perceived accuracy of the overall nutrient data provided in MyFitnessPal, using examples from your data to support your stance
Future Goals to Improve My Diet
• two (2) specific and measurable goals to improve your diet
o one macronutrient goal
o one micronutrient goal
References
• use either AMA or APA citation style
• include a minimum of two (2) references
• references listed must also be cited appropriately within the body of the paper
Tips for Writing Your Report
• The focus of this paper is to compare your average intake to the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal and specific food/beverage changes that you can make to better meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal and/or lower your health risks.
• When looking at food/beverage changes, be sure that the food/beverage is an appropriate source to help meet the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal.
• You must include a comparison to your hypothesis statement from the assignment earlier this semester.
• A comparison to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for each macronutrient must be included and you will need to calculate the percentage of calories from each macronutrient based on the information from your data table.
• Micronutrient intakes greater than 66% of the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal are generally considered adequate (healthy). High micronutrient intakes (greater than 100% of the MyFitnessPal Daily Goal) from food are generally not a concern for toxicity.
• Make sure that your goals in the “Future Goals to Improve My Diet” section of your paper are specific and measurable. One way to make your goal specific is to identify one specific macronutrient or micronutrient (e.g., sodium). One way to make your goal measurable is to include a number and a time frame in the goal (e.g., reduce intake by 500mg per day). Including how you will accomplish the goal helps make the goal specific (e.g., cutting out fast food). These elements could result in the following goal: “I will reduce sodium intake by 500mg per day by cutting out fast food.”
• Use Grammarly (Links to an external site.) to check the grammar and spelling of your paper.
• For more information on AMA citation style, visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/ama_style/index.html (Links to an external site.). For more information on APA citation style, visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html (Links to an external site.).
Submission Guidelines
1. Save your assignment as a Word document (.docx).
2. Submit your assignment by clicking the Submit Assignment button.
3. Click Choose File.
4. Find your file in the pop-up window; select Open to upload the file.
5. Click Submit Assignment after the file has uploaded.