Nutrition
The key to nutrition is balancing choice and health.
In this course, you will learn about the general recommendations from US Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate. These resources provide guidance on supporting a healthy lifestyle and reducing the risk of major chronic disease. In addition to these sweeping recommendations, this course discusses balancing choice and safety for participants when it comes to nutrition. A person’s food and beverage choices are impacted by their culture and values, environment, and personal preferences. Additionally, a person may require a specific diet for a therapeutic purpose. For example, a participant may need a modified carbohydrate diet for diabetes or a low potassium diet for kidney disease. A participant may also need a modification diet, which includes adapted food and liquid textures and/or consistencies for the person to safely eat.
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
- Recognize how following the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans helps lead to a healthy lifestyle with reduced risk of major chronic diseases.
- Identify the five food groups of MyPlate and the general recommendations for each.
- Identify how calories impact body weight.
- Distinguish between portion and serving.
- Identify the five essential nutrients and describe the main function of each.
- Classify food items as either carbohydrates; protein; saturated fat; polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat; and vitamins and minerals.
- Identify the main function of cholesterol, sodium, and dietary fiber.
- Identify and describe the recommendations for “clean,” “separate,” “cook,” and “chill.”
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
- Describe the importance of offering choice for participants with their food and beverage choices.
- Identify factors that may impact a person’s food and beverage choices and physical activity levels.
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
- Understand why a person’s diet needs to be safe, adequate, individualized, and healthy.
- Describe a therapeutic diet and identify examples of typical therapeutic diets.
- Understand how a modification diet increases food safety for those who have difficulty swallowing.
- Recognize ways in which a person might describe how they experience an allergic reaction.
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
- Distinguish between enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition.
- Identify the different types of feeding tubes.
- Distinguish between the two types of feeding methods.
Course Workbook
🖨 Print the Nutrition Workbook (PDF), or print the full Visions Workbooks (PDF).
Use the workbook to take notes, prepare for quizzes, and keep as a reference for the future.
