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FIGURE 16 -
YOU CAN ASSESS YOUR NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN SEVERAL
WAYS
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
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| Food intake | Record food and beverage intake for one week. Compare your intake of a particular food item with the average serving size given in the Food Charts and illustrations. | From this information, convert your intake to grams of that particular item for the week. Divide by 7 to give your daily intake (grams per day). | Choose a nutrient of interest (e.g. vitamin C or energy) and, from the food charts, identify foods you have eaten that contain significant amounts of the nutrient. Calculate the amount of nutrient ingested in one day. | Find out the recommended daily intake (or safe and adequate intake) of nutrient from the Food Charts. | Calculate what percentage of the recommended amount is the amount of nutrient ingested by you. If less than 67% or greater than 200%, consider how your diet could change to give a figure nearer 100%. |
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| Weight and height | Record your weight and height. | Read off the desirable weight for height from weight/height tables (Figure 14). | Calculate your weight as a percentage of the desirable weight. | If greater than 120% of the desirable weight, this is 'obesity'. Greater than 130% is a significant risk to health. Less than 90% of the desirable weight is also a risk to health. | . |
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| Skinfold thickness
(fatty tissue
under the skin) |
Pinch a fold of skin on the abdomen, between thumb and forefinger. | If more than 25 millimetres thick (1 inch), this constitutes a significant risk to health. | More precise measurements of skinfold thickness can be made with calipers. | With calipers, at the rear of the mid-upper arm, measure the 'triceps skinfold' three times and average (see Figure 17). | Compare the value with those given in Figure 17 to find the percentage of fat in your body. |
* Measuring your skinfold thickness
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Food Facts |  |
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| - | Assessing your own nutritional status | ||
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| - | Water balance | ||
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| - | Special nutritional situations | ||
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| - | Medications | ||
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| - | Sugars and health | ||
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| - | Diet and lifestyle | ||
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| Figures: | |||
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16. Several ways to assess your nutritional status | ||
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| 17: | Are you too fat? | ||
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| 18: | Water input and output | ||
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| 19: | Nutritional needs of particular health conditions | ||
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| 20: | Some medications that may increase nutritional needs | ||
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| 21: | Dietary intake and culture or lifestyle | ||
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