PURDUE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

HW320 Contemporary Diet and Nutrition

Nutrition
Education Guide

1
 PURDUE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

Nutrition Education Guide

Kevin Vaughn

Purdue Global University

HW320: Contemporary Diet and Nutrition

October 2023
Table of Contents
Introduction
UNI T 1 DIET ARY T REN DS AN D NUTRITIO N

Information to Remember
Resource
UNI T 2 FOOD CHOI CES

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 3 FOOD CHOI CES : ECONOMI CS

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 4 FOOD CHOI CES : FOO DBO RNE I LLNESSE S

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 5 GENE TI CALLY ENGIN EERED FOOD

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 6 THE O RG ANI C FOO D MOVEM ENT

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 7 G LOBAL FOO D M ARKETS

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 8 CONTEMPO RARY WEIGHT LOSS P ROG RAM S

Information to Remember
RESOU RCEU NIT 9 DI VERS IT Y O F FOO D CHO ICE S

Information to Remember
Resource
 1
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 1 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Key learning point from the unit– Dietary Guidelines for Americans is full of great
information. The dietary guidelines are all about health promotion, not disease
treatment. Covers the steps to create and implement dietary guidelines.

Resource:
▪ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). USDA Dietary Guidelines for
[Link].
[Link]
12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-[Link]. This reference should be a
health and wellness practitioner’s best friend. This reference covers every age group
that a practitioner could possibly see throughout their career. The dietary guidelines are
updated every 5 years by law and are backed by science and medical knowledge.

2
 2
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 2 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Key learning point from the unit– Technology has advanced the world in unimaginable
ways. Technology and social media have also provided many people with
misinformation on nutrition that has caused side effects of allergic reactions and
intolerances. To find the best information use .gov and .edu websites.

Resource:
▪ Apellö, S. (2018). Opinion | 3 ways to avoid nutrition misinformation on the
[Link].
[Link]
ways-avoid-nutrition-misinformation-internet/473912002/. This website gives the
best ways to avoid misinformation while on social media and websites. Nutrition is
not secret information so beware of claims stating that. Lastly, to avoid financial
loss and possible bad nutritional information do your research and make sure the
information is up to date.

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 3
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 3 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Key learning point from the unit– Low income leads to food insecurity and poor food
choices. Most people want to eat healthy but low income forces them to buy what they
can afford and what they can make last a while. The SNAP program helps low-income
people/families by supplementing grocery budget so they can afford nutritious foods.

Resource:
▪ U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2018). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program. [Link]
program-snap. This website lets people see if they qualify for SNAP benefits. Also,
this website lets you see which products and food you can buy with SNAP benefits.
Lastly, you can see your state requirements for SNAP and see which local farmers
are a part of the SNAP program.

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 4
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 4 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Food handling is just as important as the cooking of the actual food. A lot of food-borne
illnesses come from cross-contamination. A lot of food myths are culturally based and
actually have no merit at all.

Resource:
▪ Toptenz. (2017, May 18). Top 10 common misconceptions about food
safety [Video]. YouTube. [Link] This
video covers 10 misconceptions about food. Washing foods like chicken actually
creates a lot of cross-contamination from the splashing of water. Best by dates on
food labels is not when the food expires but when the food is expected to taste the
same as the day you bought it.

5
 5
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 5 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ GMOs have been around for a while, and they are harder to avoid than one might think.
GMOs actually can and have helped with food insecurities and places where famine is
common. GMOs can help bring certain food to areas that would not normally grow
certain crops due to being engineered to withstand the climate of a particular area.

Resource:
▪ Zero2hero. (2017, December 31). GMO: 10 foods you didn't know were
geneticallymodifiedorganisms! [Video].YouTube.
[Link] This video talks
about foods that genetically modified that most of us probably had no idea that it
was. Foods have been mostly genetically modified to be resistant to certain bugs
that would devastate the crops. GMOs have been accepted in the food industry to
increase profit but not largely by consumers.

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 6
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 6 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ The term “organic” doesn’t mean what you actually think it means. For produce to be
called organic, it has to grown on soil that has no prohibited substances applied to it for
three years before harvest. Organic meat requires that animals have living conditions
that mimic their natural behaviors and they are fed 100% natural feed and are not
administered any antibiotics or hormones.

Resource:
▪ [Link].(2018). USDA
organic. [Link] This website talks about the
requirements produce and food must go through to certified as organic. Also, it
breaks down the meaning behind the wording on food labels that have organic in
them. This website talks about the federal regulations that the USDA deems
necessary for farmers to do in order to be certified organic farmers.

7
 7
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 7 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ The globalization of fast food is here, and it is steadily increasing. American fast food
is bringing a piece of American food to other parts of the world. Fast food has introduced
the world to more processed foods that can cause obesity and other health issues
associated with it.

Resource:
▪ Regoli, N. (2019). 14 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Food.
[Link]
food. This website talks about the pros and cons of fast food. Fast food is very
convenient for the on-the-go lifestyle that many people have today. Fast food
is also more expensive than homecooked meals. Fast food uses a lot
processed meats which can and has contributed to the rising obesity rates
among youths.

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 8
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 8 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Prescription and OTC weight loss medications are a good way to help people lose
weight that truly need it. Please read the side effects of weight loss medications, it may
work for your buddy but not for you. There are many weight loss programs and fad diets
out there so do your research to make sure it is the best program for you that fits your
lifestyle and health goals.

Resource:
▪ Stiehl, S., & Donovan, M. (2018). 20 Weight loss myths you probably believe.
Weight Loss Myths. [Link] This website
covers myths that we all at some point probably believed about weight loss.
You cannot target specific areas for weight loss, weight loss will come from
everywhere. Exercise alone will help you lose weight but coupled with the right
diet and nutrition plan will help you lose and maintain the weight loss which will
better help you overall health.

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 9
Unit

Dietary Trends and Nutrition

Unit 9 Dietary Trends and

Nutrition
Information to Remember:
▪ Ones culture, race, and ethnic background determine the food choices a person
throughout their life. Race, culture, and familial beliefs shape a person’s food choices at
a young age but can change as a person gets older and travels the world. Income has a
lot to do with food choices and often times leads to unhealthy food choices from low-
income families.

Resource:
▪ Le,C.(2017). Whatfoodtellsusabout
culture. [Link]
This website talks about where we come from shapes what we eat today. Dishes
from our past that we cook today are slightly different due to certain ingredients
not being available, but the memories and representation of our culture stay intact.
As more and more families become multicultural, so does the food that shaped us.

Part 2: Cultural Food Choice Explanation and Screenshot

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The dish that I prepared was blackened fish with coconut rice. I chose this dish from the
Caribbean culture as my wife is from the Virgin Islands. The preparation of the dish was
surprisingly easy for me. I have never cooked coconut rice before, but it was easy to do. The
fish gave me a few problems as I am naturally a heavy-handed person when it comes to
seasonings. It is not portrayed in the photograph, but I chose Caribbean food because I love
the vibrant colors of the different dishes and the flavor is second to none in my opinion when
it comes to spices and full flavor. A few things that consumers and practitioners need to
know about Caribbean food is that it is multicultural. A lot of the Caribbean was under
British rule for a long time and that shows in the food as well. After liberation, the U.S. gave
aid to a lot of them so in comes the American culture as well. According to my wife and
some of her family members, “if the food is not jerked it won’t work” and “spice is life”.
Caribbean culture shares food with people to show that they care about you and the cooking
comes from the heart (Cumberbatch, 2023).

References:

Apellö, S. (2018). Opinion | 3 ways to avoid nutrition misinformation on the internet.

Knox News.

[Link]

ways-avoid-nutrition-misinformation-internet/473912002/.

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Cumberbatch, D. (2023, August 1). Food As an Important Aspect of Caribbean Family

Life. TripCast360. [Link]

caribbean-family-life/#:~:text=the%20dinner%20table.-

,Food%20is%20an%20essential%20part%20of%20Caribbean%20culture%2C%2

0and%20it,historical%20influences%20in%20the%20region.

Le, C. (2017). What food tells us about

culture. [Link]

Regoli, N. (2019). 14 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Food.

[Link]

Stiehl, S., & Donovan, M. (2018). 20 Weight loss myths you probably believe. Weight

Loss Myths. [Link]

Toptenz. (2017, May 18). Top 10 common misconceptions about food safety [Video].

YouTube. [Link]

U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2018). Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program. [Link]

program-snap.

[Link].(2018). USDA

organic. [Link]

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). USDA Dietary Guidelines for

Americans 2020-2025. 9th Ed. [Link].

[Link]

12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-[Link].

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Zero2hero. (2017, December 31). GMO: 10 foods you didn't know were

geneticallymodifiedorganisms! [Video]. YouTube.

[Link]

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