My current paper

Here's what I have now. I think I fixed the stuff that we talked about in class. The protein section is now complete, but I haven't looked over it. There are probably typos, I'll fix them later. Whenever you have a section about the fat analysis of the class, BMI, or the conclusion, just post it. Three pages shouldn't be a problem, this is around there already, double spaced.


Nutrition is a vital part in the life of any person. Our bodies require energy, nutrients, vitamins and other substances to function. Nutrition is the process by which the body gains what it needs. Good nutrition leads to a healthy life, and a long life. A person who has good nutrition can function well and energetically. Bad nutrition opens the door to obesity, diabetes, heart problems, and any number of other harmful conditions. The 10th grade health class has examples of both trends. The food consumed by the students will be averaged in the following areas: total calories, fat (separated into total and saturated fat), protein, and overall body mass index. This summary will show where students have succeeded in maintaining good nutrition, and where more effort is required.
The first area to analyze is simple: the sheer calorie intake of the class. The calorie represents a unit of heat energy that the body gains from digesting the food. Too many calories can lead to unhealthy results such as obesity. However, it is necessary to consume adequate nutrients as well. Foods that are lower in calories but still provide good amounts of nutrients are referred to as nutrient dense foods, and are what should be consumed. A few examples include whole grain bread, fruits and vegetables. These provide the nutrients that people need without loading them down with too many calories. However, in an age of fast food and a plethora of unhealthy snacks with hardly any nutrients at all (but certainly enough calories), it is easy to go astray. This makes it important to monitor calorie intake over time so that bad trends do not persist.
The logs of the class that were accurate enough to include showed an average of 1544.5 calories per day over three days. This shows surprising little consumption of calories. For sedentary females, 1800 calories a day are recommended. For moderately active females, 2000 calories should be consumed. For active females, 2400 calories are needed. A sedentary male will require 2200-2400 calories, a moderately active male 2600-2800 calories, an active male 3000-3200 calories. This supports one of the following conclusions. It is possible that every student who kept an accurate log is extremely sedentary, partaking in no real physical activity, and can survive on 1544.5 calories per day. Here it should be noted that all but one of the logs showed an average calorie intake of around 1100. The last was approximately one thousand five hundred calories higher at 2657 calories. This could represent either a male who ate at the moderate activity level, or a female who ate too much. But the rest of the logs show either a very sedentary lifestyle, underweight kids, or inaccurate reporting of the calories that they ate. Assuming it not to be the later, the log shows a pressing need to increase calorie amounts taken in and probably to increase physical activity to compensate for this. The logs show that most people did not eat much in the way of nutrient sense foods. The logs tended to show high amounts of pizza, tacos, hambergers and the like. In addition, many snacks were cheetos or chips as opposed to nutrient-dense fruit. It is good that the class has participated in the log because now they will know of these problems, and be able to take steps toward correcting them. Over-all, the class has not measured well against the first test. Hopefuly, their portein intake will be more satisfactory.

The next part of students’ diet that was examined was how much protein the calories they ate contained. Proteins play an irreplaceable role in fueling our bodies. They are useful for their amino acids. Complete proteins provide all of the 'essential' acids that the body cannot make on its own. Examples of complete porteins include fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and yogurt. Incomplete proteins lack at least one essential acid. These include beans, peas, nuts, and whole grains. Eating different types of incomplete proteins together can help make sure you recieve all the amino acids you need. Once your body has all of its essential acids, proteins become very useful.They are used primarily to construct new cells and maintain existing ones. Without proteins, the body cannot grow much, because it has nothing to construct the new cells from. This makes proteins absolutely essential during teenage years when much growth normally occurs. Proteins serve the body in other ways as well. Ten percent of the body's energy comes from protein. Although they are not a major energy source compared to carbohydrates, they do provide fuel. In addition, they help produce enzymes. These regulate the rate of the chemical reactions in cells. Without them there would be essentially no central control over the processes occurring in cells, disastrous for the body as a whole as well as the individual cells. Proteins are also transformed into hormones. These regulate the activities of different cells, again providing more controlling over the cells of the body. A lack of hormones has similarly unbeneficial results. The last major use of proteins by the body is antibodies. Antibodies are crucial in finding, identifying, and destroying organisms responsible for disease. A failure of antibodies opens the body to infections. Some infections, as we all know, are serious enough to result in death. This means that no person can remain healthy in the absence of proteins.
The class has performed well in terms of proteins. The average protein consumption per day was aprroximatly 59 grams. The recomended amount of protein for a teenager is approximatly fifty to one hundred grams. This means that most of the sample of the class is recieving adequate protein. There was only one person who showed a protein defficiency, eating about 27 grams of protein per day. The log has proved an effective tool here, it has showed us that protein is not a problem, or a widespread one at any rate, and that our efforts are best concentrated elsewhere.
The penultimate part of the analysis concerns how much fat students consumed. Fats have been given a bad name of late; they are the root of all evil and must be avoided. However, they do have their uses, and for this reason twenty to thirty percent of a person’s diet should be fats. It is important here to distinguish between total sat consumed and the total saturated fats consumed. Saturated fat molecules contain all of the hydrogen atoms that they can. They are associated with high risk of heart disease, and are less healthy than unsaturated fats that have at least on space for a hydrogen atom. Total fat is the sum of both these statistics. However, any kind of fat can transport the vitamins A, D, E, and K through the blood, making some fat important to the body. They serve to cushion the vital organs of the body against being jolted, making a complete lack of fat a situation to be recitified. However, lack of fat is hardly a common problem in these times. In addition, fats provide linoleic acids, needed for growth and healthy skin. However, to many fats can certainly lead to obesity and worse.
(ACTUAL NUTRITIONAL DATA)