Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

Chapter 1: Food, Nutrition, and Health

  1. Describe the wellness movement, its origin and present standing, and list three broad public health goals for the new century.
  2. Identify three basic functions of nutrients in food.
  3. Define and elaborate upon four nutrition-related terms: optimal nutrition, under nutrition, malnutrition, and over nutrition.
  4. Explain the Food Guide Pyramid and the importance of the basic four food groups in planning well-balanced diet.
  5. Describe dietary guidelines for Americans.

Chapter 2: Carbohydrates

  1. List 3 classes of carbohydrates, their class members and food sources.
  2. Summarize dietary fiber classes, their food sources and functions.
  3. Describe the primary energy and special tissue functions of carbohydrates.
  4. Look up dietary fiber and kilocalorie values of specified servings of selected foods.

Chapter 3: Fats

  1. Identify 4 classes of fats and their functions.
  2. List various food sources of fat.
  3. Calculate for a client the amount of fat he or she is eating.
  4. Explain the digestive process of fats.
  5. Enumerate U.S. dietary guidelines for fat in a diet.

Chapter 4: Protein

  1. List various classes of amino acids and identify essential and nonessential amino acids.
  2. Describe functions of protein and identify food sources of protein.
  3. Explain the digestive process of proteins.
  4. List comparative protein quality of selected foods and identify foods high in protein.

Chapter 5: Energy Balance

  1. Identify the fuel factors of the three energy nutrients and explain their meanings to a client.
  2. Define basal metabolism and identify body tissues that contribute most to our basal metabolic needs.
  3. List factors that influence nonbasal energy needs.
  4. Look up energy expenditure/hour during various activities.
  5. Evaluate a client’s daily energy requirements.

Chapter 6: Vitamins

  1. Define a vitamin and describe three general functions of vitamins and give examples of each.
  2. Discuss with a client the implications of taking self-prescribed vitamin supplements.
  3. Describe the effects of three vitamins that some persons take in large amounts and explain the risks involved in such mega doses.
  4. Describe four situations in which vitamin supplements should be used. Give reasons and examples in each case.
  5. List four principles to guide a person’s decisions about vitamin supplements, and explain the basis for each one.

Chapter 7: Minerals

  1. List the seven major minerals and describe their functions and the problems created by dietary deficiency or excess.
  2. List the 11 trace elements proven to be essential in human nutrition.
  3. Answer these questions about the 11 trace elements: Which ones have established RDA’s, either within the new DRI system or previously? Which ones have safe and adequate intakes suggested? Why is it difficult to establish RDAs and DRIs for everyone?

Chapter 8: Water Balance

  1. Explain why the total body water is considered a unified whole. Explain the meaning of the term body compartment and how it applies to body water balance.
  2. Define the term homeostasis. Give examples of how this state is maintained in the body.
  3. List and describe five functions of body water. Describe five factors that influence water requirements to supply these body water functions.
  4. Apply your knowledge of the capillary fluid shift mechanism to account for the gross body edema seen in starving children.

Chapter 9: Digestion and Absorption

  1. Describe the types of muscle movement involved in mechanical digestion. Answer: What does the work motility mean? How are the nerves involved?
  2. Identify digestive enzymes and any related substances secreted by the following glands: salivary and mucosal glands, pancreas, and liver. What activities they perform on carbohydrates, proteins, and fats? What stimulates the release of these enzymes? What inhibits their activity?
  3. Describe four mechanisms of nutrient absorption from the small intestine. Describe the routes taken by the breakdown products of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats after absorption.
  4. List the functions the large intestine performs.

Chapter 10: Nutrition During Pregnancy and Lactation

  1. List six nutrients that are required in larger amounts during pregnancy. Describe their special roles, and identify four food sources of each.
  2. Identify two common gastrointestinal problems associated with pregnancy and describe the diet management of each.
  3. List and describe five major nutritional factors to support lactation, what additional, nonnutritional needs does the breast feeding mother have, and what suggestions can you give to help her meet them.

Chapter 11: Nutrition in Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence

  1. Describe the major factors responsible for the differences in the nutritional and feeding need of pre- and fullterm infants.
  2. Explain why breast feeding is the preferred method of feeding infants. Compare breast feeding with the commercial formulas available for bottlefed babies.
  3. Outline a general schedule for a new mother to use as a guide for adding solid foods to her baby’s diet during the first year of life.
  4. Compare the changes in growth and development of toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. List factors that influence their nutritional needs and eating habits.
  5. Describe factors that influence the changing nutritional needs and eating habits of adolescents. Make suggestions for reducing the nutritional risk at this vulnerable age.

Chapter 12: Nutrition for Adults: The Early, Middle, and Later Years

  1. Identify three major biologic changes that occur with aging and give an example of each.
  2. Identify and describe three major factors contributing to malnutrition in older adults.
  3. List and describe the resources of several agencies providing nutrition-related services for elderly persons.

Chapter 13: Community Food Supply and Health

  1. Describe ways that various organisms may contaminate food. Describe the standards of food preparation and handling should be used to keep food safe.
  2. Describe the development of food label reform and the nature of the new food labels.
  3. List and describe food assistance programs available to help low income families.
  4. List and discuss the wise food buying and handling practices described in this chapter.

Chapter 14: Food Habits and Cultural Patterns

  1. Explain the meaning of culture and how it affects our food patterns.
  2. Identify social and psychologic factors that influence our food habits. Give examples of personal meanings related to food.
  3. Discuss why the public tends to accept nutrition misinformation and fads so easily. Identify groups that are more susceptible.
  4. Identify current trends in American food habits. Discuss their implications for nutrition and health.

Chapter 15: Weight Management

  1. Explain some of the problems in determining ideal weight for an individual.
  2. Explain how set-point relates to diet and exercise in a personal weight-management program.
  3. Describe the components of a positive health model for weight management.
  4. Describe factors influencing the development of an underweight malnourished condition. Explain the dietary treatment required.
  5. Describe the two major eating disorders associated with a growing obsession with thinness. Identify the contributing social and psychologic factors and discuss the treatment options.

Chapter 16: Nutrition and Physical Fitness

  1. Compare and discuss the three energy nutrients in terms of their relative roles as fuel for exercise.
  2. Outline the nutrition and physical fitness principles you would discuss with a client who is an athlete. Plan a diet for this person that would meet nutrient and energy needs.
  3. Describe the health benefits of exercise for a person with heart disease, as well as for a person with hypertension. Also describe the benefits of exercise for an over weight person with NIDDM.
  4. Describe several factors a person should consider in planning a personal exercise program. Define the term aerobic exercise and list its benefits.

Chapter 17: Nutritional Care

  1. Identify and discuss the possible effects of various psychosocial factors on the outcome of nutritional therapy.
  2. List and describe commonly used measures for determining nutritional status, including the following: (1) body measures; (2) medical tests; (3) clinical observations; and (4) food habits.
  3. Describe the roles of the clinical nutritionist and the nurse in nutritional care.

Chapter 18: Gastrointestinal Problems

  1. Provide general nutritional guidance to a person with hiatal hernia.
  2. Outline the basic principles of diet planning with peptic ulcer disease. Explain how these principles differ from the traditional therapy formerly used.
  3. Describe the causes, clinical signs, and treatment of each of the following diseases: diverticular disease, celiac sprue, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Chapter 19: Coronary Heart Disease and Hypertension

  1. Discuss the following questions with a client: (1) Why are fat and cholesterol primary factors in heart disease? (2) How are they carried in the bloodstream? (3) Which of these fat packages carry so-called good cholesterol and which carry bad cholesterol, the cholesterol of concern? (4) How can we influence the relative amounts of these fat and cholesterol carriers in our blood? Describe the food changes involved.
  2. Identify the risk factors for heart disease.
  3. Identify four diet recommendations for a patient who has had a heart attack. Describe how each recommendation facilitates recovery.
  4. Discuss the three main levels of sodium restriction, describing general food choices and preparation methods.
  5. Discuss the following questions with a client: (1) What does the term essential hypertension mean? (2) Why would weight control and sodium restriction contribute to its control? (3) What other nutrient factors may be involved in hypertension?

Chapter 20: Diabetes Mellitus

  1. Define diabetes mellitus. Describe the nature of the underlying metabolic disorder. Identify the one common characteristic of all forms of diabetes mellitus.
  2. Describe the major characteristics of the two main types of diabetes mellitus. Explain how these characteristics influence differences in nutritional therapy. List and describe medications used to control these conditions.
  3. Identify and explain symptoms of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.
  4. Describe the possible long-term complications of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus.
  5. In terms of the balance concept, describe the principles of a sound diet for a person with diabetes mellitus.

Chapter 21: Renal Disease

  1. For each of the following conditions, outline the nutritional components of therapy, explaining the effect of each on kidney function: glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and chronic renal failure.
  2. List the nutritional factors that must be monitored in persons undergoing renal dialysis.
  3. Outline the medical and nutritional therapy for various types of renal stones.

Chapter 22: Surgery and Nutritional Support

  1. Describe the general effect of imbalances of the following nutritional factors through the preoperative, immediate postoperative, and postoperative periods: protein, calories, vitamins and minerals, and fluids.
  2. Describe the major surgical effects for which nutritional therapy must be planned after these procedures: mouth, throat, or neck surgery; gastric resection; cholecystectomy; and rectal surgery.
  3. Write a 1-day meal plan for a person experiencing postmastectomy dumping syndrome.
  4. Differentiate between an ileostomy and a colostomy. Identify the dietary needs for each one.
  5. Outline the nutritional care of a burn patient from treatment for immediate shock through recovery and tissue reconstruction.

Chapter 23: Nutritional Support in Cancer and AIDS

  1. Describe several major causes of cancer cell formation.
  2. Describe the major types of defense cells that are the major components of the body’s immune system.
  3. Describe nutritional problems associated with each of the three medical treatments of cancer.
  4. Outline the general procedure for nutritional management of a cancer patient.
  5. List and describe the National Research Council’s dietary guidelines for reducing the risk for cancer.
  6. Describe the evolutionary history of HIV and its current worldwide epidemic spread.
  7. Describe the nature of the AIDS virus and its action in the human body.
  8. Describe the three stages of HIV infection from initial infection to death.
  9. Outline basic parts of a comprehensive initial nutrition assessment of a patient with HIV infection, and describe the reasons for each type of information and its evaluation.
  10. Describe the general process of planning nutritional care on the basis of the patient-assessment information and the main types of nutrition problems in patients with HIV. Devise a related plan of action for each type of problem. Give an example of how you might follow up to see what worked or did not work and make adjustments.

Evaluation of Individual Objectives

To assess the effectiveness of the course material, we ask that you evaluate your achievement of each learning objective on a scale of A to D (A=excellent, B=good, C=fair, D=unsatisfactory). Please indicate your responses next to each learning objective and return it to us with your completed exam.