Section 1:
A nutritionist promotes health by advising individuals on how, and what they eat. This also includes a person’s lifestyle choices. Such advice is based after a thorough assessment of overall health, sleeping habits, and also exercises. From there one can create a action plan, supported by practical needs and targets. Nutritionists are well versed in matters that concern food and healthy lifestyle, through their knowledge in chemistry, biology and medicine, they are able to give a well thought opinion on matters that of health. A person’s metabolism and long term physical activities are measured and analyzed (Walker & Watkins, 2007).
There are three types of nutritionists: namely.
a) Clininical nutritionists: They work mostly in medical situations such as in a hospice, treatment centers, or pharmacies. Their role is to offer therapeutic health nutrition which involves adapting a patient’s diet in accordance to their specific health needs. They work in conjunction with doctors, nurses and general physicians to tailor a customized meal plan. They also offer classes to the medical fraternity and patients who have various health conditions(Walker & Watkins, 2007).
b) Food service Nutritionists: This category of nutritionists work in large scale food institutions such as institutional cafeterias and large eateries. They work with chefs and government officials in order to come up with solutions that will either strengthen already formulated policies and regulations or come up with new ones. They also offer recommendations on how to deal with individuals containing different types of allergies (Walker & Watkins, 2007).
c) Sports nutritionists: These types of nutritionists work in conjunction with coaches and sportspersons to come up with appropriate dietary needs for individual athletes in order to ensure tip top performance. Apart from performance they also work to ensure that sportspersons are able to avert injuries during sports and also make a full recovery in case of an eventuality of one (Walker & Watkins, 2007).
2) Data collected may be a person’s age, weight, daily activities, and environmental settings. Other data gathered by a nutritionist could include a person’s access and type of food ingested. There are various assessments carried out:
Anthropometric assessment: This includes taking the physical measurements of an individual’s body in order to understand their nutritional condition. Measurements used are weight, BMI, height, age, and mid upper arm circumference (Cogill, 2001).
Biochemical analysis: This includes the determination of nutrients through sampling of blood and urine among other biological samples. These tests offer the most objective data on nutritional status (Gibson, 2005).
Clinical analysis: This involves gathering data on medical and dietary history of an individual, coupled with a physical examination (Gibson, 2005).
Dietary methods: This is an examination of food consumption over a period of time.
Nutritionists examine the role of energy producing macronutrients which include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Macronutrients are nutrients that are vital to the body in large amounts. Macronutrients supply body energy in order to sustain bodily tasks so that one can carry out daily activities, including eating itself. This energy is necessary for augmentation and tissue restoration. The energy provided by each macronutrient varies in intensity. For example, carbohydrates and proteins supply the body with 17kJ/g, a piece. Fats on the other hand, supply the body with 37kJ/g. I kilo joule is equivalent to one thousand joules. 4.2 Joules of energy has the capacity of raising the temperature of water by one degree, centigrade. Nutritionists measure each food, relative to the lifestyle of an individual, to come up with a well balanced food plan. The food plan of an active teenage is very different from that of a sick or old person. A right mix of carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins is calculated and planned accordingly (Gibson, 2005).
Another fact collected is the role of micronutrients which don’t expel energy but are indispensable in metabolism and regulation of bodily activities. There are other non critical nutrients such as flavonoids, phytoestrogens, carotenoids, and probiotics, which are still being examined (Goel, 2010).
3) Information (Output): The gathered information after analysis and interpretation may include:
Energy requirements; this is the food utilization by the body.
Environmental food security situation: this is the supply of food to an area or locality
Relative access food by an individual: this comprises factors such as a person’s income and lifestyle
Mortality: After analysis the nutritionists is able to advise on policy and regulation in regards to deaths in certain areas attributed to lack of certain foods or other nutritional issues (Goel, 2010).
Section 2
Type of hardware and software likely to use in the future:
Laptop: since the raw data is collected in the field, one requires a laptop, as it enables one to work remotely even where there is limited access to energy (Goel, 2010).
Tablet: Since the cost of a tablet is lower in comparison with other hardware devices, it is thus suitable in collection of data in the field. This is also coupled with the fact that it also stores energy, hence also allows one to work remotely (Stair, 2014).
Desktop: A desktop is necessary as it can act as a server as well as a backup unit for the data collected.
Input Devices such as mouse, keyboard, and scanners are also necessary in my field as it allows me to key in and store information in the hardware device.
Output devices: They include devices such as printers, headphones, computer monitor and projector (to be use when making a presentation (Goel, 2010).
Requirements in the field include:
Notebook and pen
Laptop or tablet
Flash drive
Laptop bag
Requirements in the car include:
External charging unit for the hardware devices
Bottle of water
Emergency food pack and kit ( Nutritionists can find themselves in remote areas, far from assistance)
Mobile phone
Requirements at home include:
Desktop
Books and relevant literature on area of study
Common software applications used by nutritionists include:
Analytical nutritional software such as Compu-Cal nutrition assistant.
Database query software such as Valusoft MasterCook (Stair, 2014).
- Cogill. B, (2001). Anthropometric Indicators Measurement Guide. Food and Nutrition Technical
Assistance. Washington DC: Harper Press. - Gibson, Rosalind S. (2005). Principles of Nutritional Assessment. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Print.
- Goel, A. (2010). Computer Fundamentals. India: Pearson Education.
- Harper, E. (2009). “Nutritional Essentiality: Evolution of the Concept.” Nutrition Today
34 : 216–222. - McCollum, Elmer V. (2013). A History of Nutrition. 7th ed. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin,
- Stair, R. (2014). Succeeding with Technology. 2nd ed. New York: (N.Y): Cengage Learning
- Walker, W. A., & Watkins, J. B. (2007). Nutrition in Pediatrics, 2d ed. London: Decker.
