Reflection On Dietary Plan And Social Determinants Of Health

Examples of Diet Plan

Discuss about the Nursing for Social Determinants of Health.

A1.

At my age (25 years) I am required to consume at least 5 serves of vegetables every day. According to Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), half cup of cooked vegetables like hot potato chips do not count. Here 5 serves of vegetables means half cup of cooked vegetables along with 1 cup of salad is required. The young adults are required to consume at least 2 serves of fruits per day. Under this 2 serve, 1 serve constitute 1 medium piece fruit or 2 small pieces of fruits and another cup of chopped or canned fruits. However, food with added sugar is not suitable for the diet (Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary, 2013).

Via reflecting on my diet plan, it can be stated that I failed to abide by the Australian dietary guidelines. According to Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), (guideline 3), One should limit the intake of high saturated fats like cakes, pastries, commercial burgers, pizza and other savoury snacks. The reason behind this restriction is, consumption of high fat containing food during the early stage of life is associated with increases in susceptibility of obesity, cardiovascular disease along with unhealthy lifestyle patterns (Hartmann, Siegrist & van der Horst, 2013). Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), is of the opinion that such high fat content food must be replace with saturated fats like butter, cooking margarine and palm oil which is rich in polysaturated and monosaturated fats along with fruits and green vegetables. According to De Souza et al. (2015), in comparison to the high fat diet, fruits and vegetables is associated with the negligeable risk of development of the cardiovascular disease along with other complications like type 2 diabetes and ischemic stroke.

I also failed to limit the intake of soft drinks as proposed by Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013). Consumption of aerated drinks caused increases in the susceptibility towards weight gain. Moreover, consumption of aerated drinks containing sugar at night causes sleep disruption which is further inter-related with stress and other associated illness.

I am planning to replace my burger and high fat diet with fruit salads and mix vegetables soup and in case of aerated drinks; I will replace it with plain water or water. Such that, my water content in the body remain balanced while reducing the intake of aerated drinks.

On completing the quiz from Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), my score is 6. This denotes that I am not consuming a very healthy diet, and that there is an urgent need of making considerable improvement in the dietary consumption. Based on my present food consumption and reflecting on the dietary guidelines, it would be advisable to bring two changes into the diet.

Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary

Firstly, I need to include more fruits into my diet that a rich source of minerals, vitamins and fiber. Most fruits are low on energy and thus combat weight gain. These would help me protecting against chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease and some forms of cancer. The scientific evidence of the health benefits of consuming fruits is rich and it has been strengthened through years. The common fruits that I need to include in my diet are broccoli, spinach, cucumber, lemon, watermelon, banana, orange, apple and peach (ten Cate et al., 2016).

In place of cold drinks I need to consume fresh fruit juices and detoxifying drinks that would help me in maintaining a healthy body weight through proper nutrient intake. Fruit juices have been known to provide energy but they might be lacking fiber at some cases. Detoxifying drinks are beneficial for removing the toxins from the body. In addition, the metabolism rate of the body is increased significantly thereby enhancing the health status. Such drinks would be useful for reducing inflammation of the body and boosting energy. Digestion would also be enhanced through such drinks. Further, the liver would be cleansed and healthy skin would be evident. The most common ingredients that are useful for making such drinks include cucumber, ginger, mint, lemon and honey. A drink of this entire ingredient other work wonder as a detoxifying agent. This drink is to be consumed every morning before the first meal of the day and before dinner (Nix, 2016).

According to Marmot (2017) the social gradient in health has a direct implication that important actions for improving health have to be taken at social level. As per the author, health and wellbeing of an individual is influenced by the social status he upholds and the life expectancy. The social gradient has been well studied in literature in relation to health outcomes and it has been noted that those who are poor have poor health conditions. Those who are deprived have been known to be having less access to nutritious food and thus suffer adverse health conditions. The author further argues that those who are on the other side of social gradient also are likely to suffer poor health conditions which are an indirect impact of the social status. Fewer the education level more is the chances of suffering poor health conditions. The rise in mortality rate and poor health is not to be always attributed to lack of access to healthcare. Suicide, drugs, alcohol and chronic liver disease are also common among those who belong to the higher social class.

Negative Impact of High Fat and Sugar in Diet

According to Braveman and Gottlieb (2014) social determinants of health have thrown light on health-related factors of the social environment such as accessibility to healthy foods, recreational areas, walk-ability, that can influence the individual’s health behaviors. Evidence point out that socioeconomic factor such as wealth, income and education are the basic causes of wide range of health outcomes. These have proved to shape plausible pathways in addition to biological mechanisms by which health is shaped up. Social experiences have come into limelight in this regard as research point out that experiences such as ethnic or racial discrimination have a negative impact on the health conditions of those who are sufferers. Such influences act as pervasive stressor in the intermingled interactions. It has been found that disparities are irrespective of education level and income status. When a person lives in a society which has a strong legacy of racial discrimination there could be major damage done to the health conditions through psychobiologic pathways.

On the personal front, the socials determinants of health that influence my health conditions are social experiences and socioeconomic background. As per the Australian Dietary Summary Guidelines, an individual is required to make healthy food choices and consume diet inclusive of foods such as fruits, vegetables, grain, lean meats and reduced fat products (Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary 2013). I come from a middle class socioeconomic background and have moderate access to the food that has been recommended by the guideline. I believe that my access to more healthy food choices is restricted to a considerable level by the economic condition my family has at present. Socioeconomic factor contributes to worse health through pathways over relatively longer time frames. However, I need to highlight that social experiences have been a positive driving factor for appropriate access to food that I can afford. Free of any racial discrimination and disparity, there are negligible constraints in accessing healthier food options.

References

Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary. (2013). [ebook] Australian Government. Available at: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/your_health/healthy/nutrition/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014_1.pdf [Accessed 23 Apr. 2018].

Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The Social Determinants of Health: It’s Time to Consider the Causes of the Causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl 2), 19–31.

De Souza, R. J., Mente, A., Maroleanu, A., Cozma, A. I., Ha, V., Kishibe, T., … & Anand, S. S. (2015). Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Bmj, 351, h3978.

Hartmann, C., Siegrist, M., & van der Horst, K. (2013). Snack frequency: associations with healthy and unhealthy food choices. Public health nutrition, 16(8), 1487-1496.

Marmot, M. (2017). The health gap: Doctors and the social determinants of health. Scandinavian journal of public health, 45(7), 686-693.

Nix, S. (2016). Williams’ Basic Nutrition & Diet Therapy-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

ten Cate, D., Huisman-de Waal, G., Ettema, R. G. A., & Schuurmans, M. J. (2016). Interventions to prevent malnutrition in older community-dwelling patients: a systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(Suppl. S1), 51-51.