Nattanich Case Study

Introduction

Nattanich Yookong, a 20-year-old female, recently transferred from Los Angeles to Simpson University, Redding California. This semester is her first year living on campus, knowing she would not have time to prepare meals for herself; she asked her parents to buy her the meal plans. After couple months of attending college, she began to notice some weights gaining. Like many typical L.A. girls, she became concerned about her body image. She decided to do a little diet project to analyze her eating behavior. Nattanich is 5’4 and weight 118 pounds, which are considered a healthy range according to the BMI chart. She does not smoke or drink, and she exercises, at least, five times a week. Her goal is to maintain her weight and balanced

Nutrients deficiencies are micronutrients that are below 30% of the RDA or AI, luckily Nattanich does not have any issue getting nutrients. Next, she takes a look at Nutrients excesses, micronutrients that are above 130% of the RDA. The nutrients that she had excesses on were Vitamin A (259%), Vitamin B6 (205%), Vitamin B12 (220%), Vitamin C (228%), Copper (162%), Iron (159%), Manganese (266%), Niacin (174%), Phosphorus (157%), Riboflavin (170%) Selenium (139%), Sodium (298%), Thiamin (163%), and Zinc (146%). Most vitamins and minerals show no evidence of serious health concern or harmful effect. Although, Nattanich should be concern about her Sodium intakes. Her average intake of sodium is 4,467.64 mg/day. According to the textbook Nutrition Concept & Controversies, the tolerable upper limit for sodium is 2,300 mg/days that she had exceeded. Sizer stated that “Excess salt intake also increases calcium excretion, an effect that could potentially compromise the integrity of bones. Excessive salt may also stress a weakened heart or aggravate kidney problems, and high salt intakes have been directly linked with high rates of stomach cancer” (Sizer, 2013, p.307). Nattanich will have to take her diets more seriously if she wants to have a long and healthy

First, she will have to control her calories intake and try her best not to skip meals. Skipping meals cause starvation and death of villi in her small intestines. If she wants to lose weight she should not let herself be hungry but eat a smaller proportion to training her metabolism. She figured out that her stress-eating habits are causing her to some of the weights. Therefore, she will stop eating when she is upset and find other ways to relieve her stress. The best ways to beat stress is to exercise. Snacking is also a bad habit that she realized she need to work on; instead of snacking on chips she could switch to fruits and vegetables. She will have pay closer attention on her fats and sodium consumptions. It is important for Nattanich to look at the packaging labels when she purchase snack or food. Eating right can help Nattanich look good and feel great about herself. According to health.gov, “a healthy diet gives you energy, supports your mood, maintain your weight, and keeps you looking your best” (Dietary Guideline, 2005). It is critical to intake the appropriates amount of