Essay: Case Studies On Clinical And Safety In Fitness And Nutrition - Analysis.

Case Study 1: Alex

Assignments may include short answer questions or longer answer questions and are designed to test how you apply your knowledge in a real-world situation.  All assignments are completed as a Microsoft Word document and are submitted to an assessor through My eCampus.  Your assessor is looking for how you apply your knowledge and how you think critically about the topic area.

This assessment item will involve the analysis of case studies.  Concerning the fitness and nutrition industry, case studies provide a record of clinical interactions and help frame important questions so that critical information about the client’s current state of health and their future goals can be obtained.

In this assessment task, there are five current case studies for which you will need to complete a range of clinical and safety questions relevant to specific mock case studies.  These include:

• Identify daily eating patterns in the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
• Compare eating patterns with the recommendations in the Eat For Health educator guide.
• Provide suggestions for achieving healthy dietary patterns using the Eat For Health educator guide
• Refer clients to either an Accredited Practicing Dietitian, an Accredited Sports Dietitian, or a medical practitioner if necessary.

Where relevant, you will need to support you answers with current literature and research articles, which are available via the My Academic Library in My eCampus.  You can also refer to the additional course resources within the NUT06 unit cluster area to further support your answers.

The minimum word limit for each case study will be 150 words.

Alex is 33 years old and has been obese since he was a teenager.  During this period, he has also developed type 2 diabetes.  Alex struggles to find sustainable employment and suffers from depression.

Alex's attitude towards food is driven by his mental state: he is someone who eats for comfort. He currently takes medication for diabetes and depression and regularly meets with his GP to discuss and evaluate these two conditions.

Alex has been advised by his GP to seek advice regarding changing his diet because not only will this have positive effects on his mental state, but losing weight will also lessen the impact of his diabetes.

Alex's daily meals usually include a breakfast from McDonald's, including a McMuffin and a milkshake.  He snacks throughout the day on chips, biscuits, and doughnuts before having a lunch of fish and chips with a Coke.  For dinner, he usually has either pizza or pasta and either a beer or Coke.

1. Using the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, identify whether Alex’s daily eating patterns are meeting the guidelines relevant to him.

2. Using the Eat For Health Educator Guide (found in the additional resources), suggest how Alex could change his habits to achieve healthy dietary patterns.

Case Study 2: Amber

3. Should you refer Alex to an allied health professional? If so, to whom and why? 

Amber is 28 years old and currently 12 weeks pregnant with her first child.  She has suffered from severe morning sickness during this, her first trimester, and has changed her diet significantly as a result of this.

Amber's obstetrician anticipates that her morning sickness will subside for the remainder of her pregnancy, but Amber is keen to try improve her eating habits during the second and third trimesters as she is adamant that she would like to breastfeed and understands that a good diet will aid this.

For the past 12 weeks, she has eaten sporadically throughout the day depending on when she feels nauseated.  She typically skips breakfast or will have a slice of toast with butter and jam on her way to work.  She does not tend to snack during the day but will occasionally eat a muesli bar. Her workplace has an on-site café, and she usually orders a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich for lunch.  In the evening, both she and her husband arrive home relatively late, so they have been eating for convenience in the form of microwave meals and ordering Thai food or pizzas twice per week.

1. Using the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, identify whether Amber’s daily eating patterns are meeting the guidelines relevant to her.

2. Using the Eat For Health Educator Guide (found in the additional resources), suggest how Amber could change her habits to achieve healthy dietary patterns.

3. Should you refer Amber to an allied health professional? If so, to whom and why?

James is 55 years old and suffers from cardiovascular disease.  He suffered a heart attack three years ago and has been encouraged by his GP to start a light exercise program as well as making modifications to his diet.

James is also gluten intolerant.  Currently, he follows a diet based around gluten-free principles. 

A sample day of his includes two eggs and half an avocado for breakfast, a chicken salad for lunch, and grilled steak with green vegetables for dinner. James prepares all his own meals from scratch and cooks using utensils that he keeps in a clean condition. He stores all his perishable items in the fridge and uses sealed Tupperware containers to store remaining food once it has been unpackaged.

1.Using the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, identify whether James’s daily eating patterns are meeting the guidelines relevant to him.

Case Study 3: James

2. Using the Eat For Health Educator Guide (found in the additional resources), suggest how James could change his habits to achieve healthy dietary patterns.

3. Should you refer James to an allied health professional? If so, to whom and why?

Linda is a 21-year-old student in her final year at university.  She is also a very talented distance runner and is hoping to qualify for the next Olympic Games in the marathon.

Linda's goal is to meet the qualifying standard in the next 12 months, so she has increased her training load and intensity to help achieve this.  Between her increased training volume and her studies for university, her diet has not been a priority, and she is seeking guidance on how to modify her diet to support her training and lifestyle goals.

An example of her daily diet includes having Nutri Grain cereal for breakfast with semi-skimmed milk, followed by cheese and ham sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for dinner.  She tries to drink 1.5 litres of water each day, but also has three or four black coffees each day.

Linda prepares her own food, but at times she forgets to put the milk back in the fridge after using it in the morning. She regularly arrives home in the afternoon and only then puts the milk back in the fridge.

1. Using the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, identify whether Linda’s daily eating patterns are meeting the guidelines relevant to her.

2. Using the Eat For Health Educator Guide (found in the additional resources), suggest how Linda could change her habits to achieve healthy dietary patterns.

3. Should you refer Linda to an allied health professional? If so, to whom and why? 

Olly is 40 years old and has lost a significant amount of weight recently.  He has introduced regular exercise into his life over the last 12 months and has lost weight due to his efforts to ensure that he follows the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Despite his best efforts, Olly is still 10kg overweight and is struggling to lose the remaining weight. He currently exercises at moderate intensity for 30 minutes three times per week.  A typical day in Olly’s diet includes two pieces of wholegrain toast with butter and vegemite in addition to two hard boiled eggs for breakfast; for lunch, he usually eats grilled chicken or fish with white rice or potatoes and a small amount of vegetables such as broccoli or green beans; and for dinner, he will generally eat either grilled steak with potatoes and vegetables or he will cook a chicken stir fry with noodles or rice. 

Olly also snacks on at least two pieces of fruit per day and drinks two litres of water.

Olly prepares all his food for each day the night prior and stores all perishable items in airtight containers in the fridge.

1. Using the format of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, identify whether Olly’s daily eating patterns are meeting the guidelines relevant to him.

2. Using the Eat For Health Educator Guide (found in the additional resources), suggest how Olly could change his habits to achieve healthy dietary patterns.

3. Should you refer Olly to an allied health professional? If so, to whom and why?

Case Study 1: Alex

1. According to the case study Alex has not been meeting the guidelines provided by Australian dietary guidelines. Alex should limit the consumption of discretionary food he is consuming at the moment and increase the amount of nutritious food such as vegetables, fruit and whole grain etc. Moreover, he needs to increase physical activities to maintain a healthy life style.

Guideline 1: Alex is not meeting guideline 1 because he is obese.
Guideline 2: He is not meeting guideline 2 because he does not eat nutritious food.
Guideline 3: He is not meeting guideline 4 because he consumes alcohol and junk foods. 

2. Alex should limit the consumption of discretionary food he is consuming at the moment. He should maintain his body weight by doing exercise and avoid eating pizza, pasta, chips etc. and include nutritious foods like vegetables, fruits, grains, mostly wholegrains, lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, milk and yoghurt.

3. Yes I believe I should refer Alex to a dietician as his mental and physical state can be improved by changing is diet as per advised by GP.

1. Amber’s daily eating patterns are only meeting a small portion of dietary requirements as per the guidelines relevant to her condition.

Guideline 2: Amber is not meeting guideline 2 because she is not eating nutritious food that includes variety of fruits and vegetables.

Guideline 3: She is not meeting guideline 3 because she eats microwave meals, pizzas and Thai food from restaurants.

Guideline 5: She is not meeting guideline 5 because she does not prepare her food and mostly consume from café and restaurants.

2. Amber could take more nutrition and a balanced diet from five food groups including grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meat. She can get the information from reliable sources for the limit intake of all these foods.  For morning sickness, she can change her habits following instructions of a dietician or a health professional. She needs to have good sleep, small portion of meals at different times, and more water intake to improve her morning sickness. She should cook her food and store it in good condition.

3. I should refer her to dietician to discuss and plan her daily intake requirements relevant to her condition.

1. James eating patterns are meeting most of the guidelines.

Guideline 2: He is meeting guideline 2 because he is eating healthy food that are suggested by his GP

Guideline 3: He is meeting guideline 3 because he does not consume foods that have saturated fat, added salt and sugar.

Guideline 4: he is meeting guideline 5 because he cares for his food and cook for himself. He also uses clean utensils and stores them at proper condition.

2. He could add more water intake and vegetables to his diet. 

3. I would refer him to dietician to discuss about his dietary requirements to prevent him from any cardiovascular attack in near future

1. Linda’s daily eating patterns are meeting only some of the requirements but she needs to add and abstract few things to her diet

Guideline 2: She is not meeting all the requirements of guideline 2 because she is not consuming varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains which are high in nutrition.

Guideline 5: She is not meeting all the requirement of guideline 5 because she does not store milk in fridge.

2. Looking at her goals, she needs to reduce the amount of coffee and get use to the habit of putting milk in the fridge. She also needs to alternate pasta with something healthier.

She should include more vegetables, cereals, fruits, eggs in her diet and drink plenty of water.

3. I would refer her to a dietician to discuss her diet requirements and current patterns

1. Olly’s daily eating patterns are meeting most requirements of the Australian dietary guidelines

Guideline 2: He is not meeting all the requirements of guideline 2 because he is not eating sufficient amount of vegetables as he is still overweight.

Guideline 3: he is not meeting guideline 3 because he includes butter, noodle, steak etc.  in his diet as he needs to reduce his weight.

Guideline 5: he is meeting requirements of guideline 5 as he stores food in airtight condition in the fridge.

2. the would need some changes to reduce few extra kgs which he is struggling to maintain. For example, he can increase the amount of vegetables. He can reduce the amount of rice and potatoes he is consuming at the moment 

3. I should refer him to a gp to dietician to discuss about losing extra kgs.