Program Design

Nutrition

Nutrition and physical activity should be addressed in conjunction with one another. Focusing on one at the exclusion of the other will yield less than optimal results. Nutrition assessment and recommendations should match the needs and goals of the client and will vary accordingly. Unfortunately in today's world, websites, social media, television, newspapers, and magazines are the major sources of nutrition information for most people. Nutrition information communicated as soundbites and advertisements can lead to consumer confusion. We are lucky to have the opportunity to help clear the confusion by serving as a source of credible nutrition information. Before we can give valid nutrition advice, gleaning some information about the clients current diet is imperative how complete is the clients current diet? Is the client allergic or intolerant to certain foods? Is the client following a specific diet? Restricting food groups? Dieting to lose wait? Is the client a sporadic eater? Has the individual just adopted a new way of eating? The answers to these questions and others may influence how we advise the client. Gathering dietary intake data is a simple concept, but is extremely complex to do. Most people have difficulty recalling fully and accurately what they ate in a given day with research showing a tendency to underestimate or underreport actual intake, sometimes significantly, especially in persons who are overweight.