HEALTHY EATING HABITS

English section

HEALTHY EATING HABITS

The author: Makarova Elizaveta

School №4, form 10

Tatarsk Novosibirsk region

The teacher of English

 of the highest category:

Mizina Natal’ya Mihajlovna

Tatarsk, 2019

Introduction

The human body is much more complicated than any machine. But no machine will work day and night requiring only air, water, food and a few simple rules. The body does a great deal to take care of itself. By learning a few important health rules, it is possible to help the body to work at its best. Food is needed to keep the body healthy. It guarantees energy for work. The building material for muscles, bones and blood comes from food. You can't have a healthy body without healthy food and drinking. Food is burnt up like fuel. We measure the work which a fuel does is by means of calories. Children need more calories than adults. We use up more calories in winter than in summer. But we often take in more calories than we need. The rest becomes fat. It is bad for our health. Mass media tells us a lot about bad eating habits of foreigners and the Russians. And we’d like to know if my classmates, friends, relatives, teachers have a healthy diet.

The theme of my research work: healthy eating habits of people who are familiar to me.

The object of research: eating habits.

The main aim: to study eating habits of the group of teenagers and the group of adults.

The hypothesis: in general teenagers have unhealthy eating habits and it may cause health problems for them in the future, unless they change them to a healthier ones.

The tasks:

• To know what eating habits are considered as healthy and unhealthy;
• To investigate eating habits of two groups of people: teenagers and adults;
• To find out the ways of losing weight and avoiding gaining it.

The research methods:

1. Studying and the analysis of:

∙ reference and scientific literature;

∙ resources of the Internet;

2. Questioning:

3. Measuring.

Healthy lifestyle

The wrong nourishment is not only cause of diverse chronic disease of gastric-intestinal tract and the problem of digestionic system, but also this is the principal cause of development atherosclerosis, hypersonic illness and heart disease and their consequences.

But health is not only right nourishment; this is also a healthy image of life.  There are some things, which cause damage for health:

• environmental influence;
• physical inactivity;
• drinking alcohol;
• smoking.

Eating habits

Eating habits are formed early in life of all people. They depend on traditions of the country they come from. It is important to eat properly and to do it according to a saying: “Eat to live, not live to eat.”Eating in Russia begins usually at 7:30 at week-days and at 9 at week-ends. At this time we usually have breakfast. Different people have different breakfast.At about 1 or 2 o’clock Russian people usually have dinner. The most important dish for dinner is soup. All of us know, that if we don’t eat soup, our health will suffer. Soup is very necessary for our organisms.At about 6 or 7 o’clock we have supper. We know that in Great Britain they don’t have much food in the evening. Russian people prefer to eat a lot for supper. They usually have heavy meal: mashed or fried potatoes or rice or  macaroni with chops or chicken or meat or something like that. Then we have some salad and drink tea with sandwiches or stewed fruit. When Russian people have holidays the table is a very important part of it. 

One of your main skills on the way to healthy eating is to be able to assess the value of every food, and that means both its nutritive and taste value.

There are foods that give you endless pleasant feelings, they tickle your taste buds, but they don’t have much nutritive value. Treat such foods with care for taste and quantity, eat little and try to get the most of it. For example, instead of gorging on a bar of chocolate, take it slow, hold a little piece in your mouth, enjoy and savor the taste instead of just shoving it down in a guilty haste and reaching for the next piece. Thus you will feed the desire for chocolate, but not eat too much of a food that doesn’t have much nutritive value.

It is a sign of strong will that you eat just a few pieces and stop, instead of denying yourself the taste of something that you crave. If you forbid yourself a certain food, the desire will not grow weaker, on the contrary-it will grow until you lose control and eat a monstrous amount of it.

Foods that give you valuable macro and micro nutrients are precious for you because of their nutritive value. If your family or immediate environment has not contributed to creating healthy eating habits, make it a purpose to create those yourself, patiently and gradually. Modern life gives us endless possibilities to create harmful or unhealthy habits, which leads to a need to put thought in simple everyday activities that our ancestors simply followed naturally. The culture of eating is nowadays shadowed by half true and half proven theories, company interests and economic progress.

When it comes to food, don’t think restrictively, but more through a selection of recommendations. Keeping to those recommendations will let you build healthy eating habits and eating will become a natural need followed by the choice of the right foods. This will not be because you are keeping to a specific diet, it will be a result of your habits.

Healthy eating habits of students, their parents and teachers of school № 4.

        We’d like to know if eating habits of students in our school are healthy or not. But in our opinion it won’t be right to think that only children may have unhealthy eating habits.  So we decided to organize two experimental groups: the first group – 15 teenagers of the 9th form and the second group – 10 adults; there are teachers, parents and our relatives in it.

        At first we decided to find out if they have healthy eating habits. We asked the people from both groups to answer 20 questions (see appendix 1). In the first group (see appendix 2) we’ve got the next results:

In the second group (see appendix 3) we’ve got the following:

So we can see that 80% of all people should change their eating habits as soon as possible.

        The second step was to know the ideal weight of every person in both groups according to his/her height, age and type of a constitution. We used The Formula of Brock (see appendix 4). A constitution divide into 3 types: normosthenic, hypersthenic and asthenic. To learn the type of a constitution it was necessary to measure a circle of the thinnest place on a wrist (see appendix 5), (see appendix 6). The received circle in centimetres is Index of Solov’eva (see appendix 7). 

In the first group we’ve got the following results:

In the second group 90% of adults have normosthenic type of a constitution.

Using the Formula of Brock we knew that in the first group the most part of pupils are over-weighted (see appendix 8).

In the second group there are no people with ideal and insufficient weight, all adults are over-weighted (see appendix 9).

After we’d analyzed the results of our researches we decided to know if it is necessary for teenagers and adults to follow a diet. So we gave them a questionnaire «Is it necessary for you to follow a diet» (see appendix 10). The people of both groups had to answer 10 questions about eating habits (see appendix 11), (see appendix 12).

        So, on the diagram we can see that teenagers don’t think about the advantage of a foodstuff. They eat what they want and for 87% of them it is very important to change their eating habits.

Some adults from the second group begin to analyze the structure and advantage of a foodstuff. So, for 40% eating process needs some changes and 60% of adults should change their habits.

Dieting

Many people are used to eating a certain way and never think about what they are actually putting into their bodies. For example, some people regularly drink six cans or more of regular soda every day, but when they find out there are about nine teaspoons of sugar in one can, it puts things more in perspective. Start by slowly changing your habits. Try cutting back to three cans a day, then to two and so on, and then start replacing some of the soda with healthier options.

Other people are eating a lot of food between mid-day and bedtime because they skip breakfast.

Another common scenario is when someone has grown up thinking that meat should be the focus of every meal. Change your habits slowly by trying to eat two-thirds of the meat you would normally eat, and then decrease the portion little by little. Cutting portion size limits calories. So does eating lean cuts of meat and using lower-fat methods of preparation such as broiling.

        Older people are most likely to improve their eating habits, but nutrition is important for people of all ages. Dietary experts recognize, when people have health problems or their friends become ill, these are often strong motivators of change. The more serious the health condition, the more serious the change, but it would be better if people made changes early and prevented health problems in the first place.

So what if you're feeling trapped by a diet full of fast-food burgers and cookies? You can work your way out slowly but surely. 

We can formulate 12 tips to move your eating habits in the right direction:

        Look at what you eat now. 

Write down what you eat for a few days to get a good picture of what you're taking in daily. By looking at what you eat and how much you're eating, you can figure out what adjustments you need to make.

It is suggested that people write down what they are feeling. Were you nervous, happy, or sad when you ate five slices of pizza in one sitting? The very nature of writing things down in a food diary can help people make healty changes. A food diary can keep your goals on track. Be honest.

1. Start with small changes.

Small changes over time are the most likely to stick. For example:

•   If you want to eat more vegetables, try to add one more serving by sneaking it in. Add bits of broccoli to something you already eat like pizza or soup.
•   If you need more whole grains, add barley, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice to your soup.

When you think about what you need to get more of, the other things tend to fall into place. For example, if you have some baby carrots with lunch or add a banana to your cereal in the morning, you're going to feel full longer. You won't need a food that's high in sugar or fat an hour later.

Also, look for healthier versions of what you like to eat.

• If you like luncheon meat sandwiches, try a reduced-fat version.
• If you like the convenience of frozen dinners, look for ones with lower sodium.
• If you love fast-food meals, try a salad as your side dish instead of french fries.

Pick one or two changes to start with. Once the changes have become habits, which usually happens in about two to four weeks, then try adding one or two more. In six to 12 months, you'll find that you've made substantial changes.

2. Use the nutrition facts label.

Look at the percent Daily Value (%DV) column. The general rule of thumb is that 5 percent or less of the Daily Value is considered low and 20 percent or more is high.

Keep saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium low, while keeping fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C high. Be sure to look at the serving size and the number of servings per package. The serving size affects calories, amounts of each nutrient, and the percentage of Daily Value.

The %DV is based on a 2,000-calorie diet, but recommended calorie intake differs for individuals based on age, gender, and activity level. Some people need less than 2,000 calories a day. You can use the %DV as a frame of reference whether or not you consume more or less than 2,000 calories. The %DV makes it easy to compare the nutrients in each food product to see which ones are higher or lower. When comparing products, just make sure the serving sizes are similar, especially the weight (grams, milligrams, or ounces) of each product.

3. Control portion sizes.

Understanding the serving size on the Nutrition Facts label is important for controlling portions. Someone may have a large bottled drink, assuming it's one serving, but if you look at the label, it's actually two servings. And if you consume two servings of a product, you have to multiply all the numbers by two. When the servings go up, so do the calories, fat, sugar, and salt.

Other suggestions include, dishing out a smaller amount on your plate or using smaller plates. If you put more food in front of you, you'll eat it because it's there. According to the ADA, an average serving size of meat looks like a deck of cards. An average serving size of pasta or rice is about the size of a tennis ball. Here are some other ways to limit portions:

• Split a meal or dessert with a friend at a restaurant
• Get a doggie bag for half of your meal
• Get in the habit of having one helping
• Ask for salad dressing, butter, and sauces on the side so you can control how much you use

4. Control calories and get the most nutrients. 

You want to stay within your daily calorie needs, especially if you're trying to lose weight. You also want to get the most nutrients out of the calories, which means picking nutritionally rich foods. Children and adults should pay particular attention to getting adequate calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and E.

According to the Dietary Guidelines, there is room for what's known as a discretionary calorie allowance. This is for when people meet their recommended nutrient intake without using all their calories. Some dietary experts compare the "discretionary calorie allowance" idea to a household budget. You know you have to pay all the bills and then you can use the leftover money for other things. The discretionary calorie allowance gives you some flexibility to have foods and beverages with added fats and sugars, but you still want to make sure you're getting the nutrients you need.

5. Know your fats.

Fat provides flavor and makes you feel full. It also provides energy, and essential fatty acids for healthy skin, and helps the body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. But fat also has nine calories per gram, compared to four calories per gram in carbohydrates and protein. If you eat too much fat every day, you may get more calories than your body needs, and too many calories can contribute to weight gain.

Too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol in the diet increases the risk of unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, which may increase the risk of heart disease. People should lower all three, not just one or the other.

Saturated fat is found mainly in foods from animals. Major sources of saturated fats are: cheese, beef, milk.

Trans fat results when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to increase the food's shelf life and flavor. Trans fat can be found in: vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, other snack foods.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in foods from animal sources such as meat, poultry, egg yolks, milk and milk products.

Most of your fats should come from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as those that occur in fish, nuts, soybeans, corn oil, canola oil, olive oil, other vegetable oils.

This type of fat does not raise the risk of heart disease and may be beneficial when consumed in moderation.

6. Make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free.

When buying meat, poultry, milk, or milk products, choose versions that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free. Choose lean meats like chicken without the skin and lean beef or pork with the fat trimmed off.

If you frequently drink whole milk, switch to 1 percent milk or skim milk. Many people don't taste a difference. Some mix whole milk with lower-fat milk for a while so the taste buds can adjust. This doesn't mean you can never eat or drink the full-fat versions. Remember, that's where the discretionary calories come in.

Other tips to reduce saturated fat include:

• Cooking with non-stick sprays and using olive, safflower, or canola oils instead of lard or butter.
• Eating more fish, which is usually lower in saturated fat than meat.
• Bake, grill, and broil food instead of frying it because more fat is absorbed into the food when frying.
• You could also try more meatless entrees like veggie burgers and add flavor to food with low-fat beans instead of butter.

7. Focus on fruit. 

The Dietary Guidelines recommend two cups of fruit per day at the 2,000-calorie reference diet. Fruit intake and recommended amounts of other food groups vary at different calorie levels. An example of two cups of fruit includes one small banana, one large orange, one-fourth cup of dried apricots or peaches.

Eat a variety of fruits--whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried--rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. The whole fruit has more fiber, it's more filling, and it's naturally sweet. Some juices, such as orange and prune, are a good source of potassium.

Ways to incorporate fruit in your diet include:

• adding it to your cereal
• eating it as a snack with low-fat yogurt or a low-fat dip
• making a fruit smoothie for dessert by mixing low-fat milk with fresh or frozen fruit such as strawberries or peaches.

Also, your family is more likely to eat fruit if you put it out on the kitchen table.

8. Make half your grains whole.

Like fruits and vegetables, whole grains are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

In general, at least half the grains you consume should come from whole grains. For many, but not all, whole grain products, the words "whole" or "whole grain" will appear before the grain ingredient's name. The whole grain must be the first ingredient listed in the ingredients list on the food package. The following are some whole grains: whole wheat, whole oats, oatmeal, whole-grain corn, popcorn, wild rice, brown rice, buckwheat, whole rye, bulgur, cracked wheat, whole-grain barley, millet.

Whole-grain foods cannot necessarily be identified by their color or by names such as brown bread, nine-grain bread, hearty grains bread, or mixed grain bread.

9. Eat your veggies.

The Dietary Guidelines recommend two and one-half cups of vegetables per day if you eat 2,000 calories each day.

Try adding vegetables to foods such as: meatloaf, lasagna, omelettes, stir-fry dishes, casseroles.

Frozen chopped greens such as spinach, and peas, carrots, and corn are easy to add. Also, add dark leafy green lettuce to sandwiches. You can involve children by letting them help pick vegetables in different colors when you're shopping.

-Eat a variety of dark green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, greens.

-Eat a variety of orange and deep yellow vegetables such as carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes.

-Eat a variety of starchy vegetables and legumes such as corn, dry beans, peas, chickpeas, pinto beans, kidney beans, tofu.

-Eat a variety of other vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions.

Look for ways to make it convenient. You can buy salad in a bag. Or buy a vegetable tray from the grocery store and put it in the refrigerator. Everything's already cut up and you can just reach in and eat it throughout the week.

10. Lower sodium and increase potassium.

Higher salt intake is linked to higher blood pressure, which can raise the risk of stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that people consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day (approximately one teaspoon of salt). There are other recommendations for certain populations that tend to be more sensitive to salt. For example, people with high blood pressure, blacks, and middle-aged and older adults should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day.

Most of the sodium people eat comes from processed foods. Use the Nutrition Facts label on food products: 5%DV or less for sodium means the food is low in sodium and 20%DV or more means it's high. Compare similar products and choose the option with a lower amount of sodium. Most people won't notice a taste difference. Consistently consuming lower-salt products will help taste buds adapt, and you will enjoy these foods as much or more than higher-salt options.

Prepare foods with little salt. The eating plan from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends giving flavor to food with: herbs, spices, lemon, lime, vinegar, salt-free seasoning blends.

Consult with your physician before using salt substitutes because their main ingredient, potassium chloride, can be harmful to some people with certain medical conditions.

Potassium counteracts some of sodium's effect on blood pressure. Increase potassium-rich foods such as sweet potatoes, orange juice, bananas, spinach, winter squash, cantaloupe, tomato puree.

11. Limit added sugars.

The Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing and preparing food and beverages with little added sugars. Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods and beverages in processing or preparation, not the naturally occurring sugars in fruits or milk. Major sources of added sugars in the American diet include regular soft drinks, candy, cake, cookies, pies, and fruit drinks. In the ingredients list on food products, sugar may be listed as: brown sugar, corn syrup, glucose, sucrose, honey, molasses.

Be sure to check the sugar in low-fat and fat-free products, which sometimes contain a lot of sugar.

Instead of drinking regular soda and sugary fruit drinks, try drinking diet soda, low-fat or fat-free milk, water, flavored water, 100 percent fruit juice.

For snacks and desserts, try fruit. People are often pleasantly surprised that fruit is great for satisfying a sweet tooth. If ice cream is calling your name, don't have it in the freezer. Make it harder to get by having to go out for it. Then it can be an occasional treat.

Calculation of calories.

The calorie content of foods varies from one food to another, so the study of their calorie content is a never ending task. But all the same, it is interesting to study calories in foods, because there is so much you can learn about the different types of food you eat every day.

Some foods have high calories, while others have only a low amount of calories, but the energy they may produce could be the same. Calories do not provide an accurate picture of the energy a food can provide you, but it does give you a good indicator of how much risk it poses to your Body Mass Index (BMI).

So, if you worry about your weight, then the best option is to keep watch over your calorie intake each day, so that you don’t take in excess calories. High calorie foods are usually the fatty and oily type of foods, or those high in sugar content. Having a few chocolate bars a day, can lead to excess calorie intake - which isn’t good for all you who are dieting.

When people are on a diet the first thing they want to know is how to count the calorie content in the food they are eating. Most people don’t realize this but there are 2 classes of calories. The small calories or the gram calories, these are the calories that guesses the energy that is needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. A large calorie or the kilogram calorie, this guesses the energy that is needed to increase the water temp of 1 kg of water.

Dieters will read the food label or the nutritional information the packages of the foods they eat. They will first look at the top of the label and find the calories and then they write in their journal to add up to a number of daily calories they have chosen for themselves. The calories content in food energy that is available through digestion. Taking into consideration those calories may be high based on the type of food you eat.

The recommended daily energy intake or caloric intake should be 2500 for teenagers, 2000 for men and women. The amount of calories should be taken into consideration when children and seniors are involved because they require less energy and people who are more active should be taking in more calories.

Calories, fat and cholesterol and all of those good things you see on a nutritional label are all intertwined. There are about 3500 calories in one pound of fat. If you take in 3500 calories more than what your body needs then scientifically you will gain a pound of fat. But if you manage to burn 3500 calories then you will lose a pound of fat. This information is based on the fact the weight that you have gained is not muscles but fat.

That is why they say people who are physically active should eat more because they work more of it off. You should not lower your calories and work out until you burn 3500 calories but lower your calories in moderation. Most experts and diets will tell you it is ok to lessen your caloric intake to about 1300-1400 for women and 1500 to 1800 for men.

Exercise helps burns off the calories you are taking in. If you are supposed to eat 1200 calories on a diet and you end up eat only 1000 and you are exercising on a daily basis you will lose weight.

 Conclusion.

The main aim of our research was to study eating habits of the group of teenagers and the group of adults. We have put forward a hypothesis that in general teenagers have unhealthy eating habits and it may cause health problems for them in the future, unless they change them to a healthier one. At the end of our research we can say that our assumption is quiet right. Actually, 80% of all people in our research have unhealthy eating habits. For 87% of teenagers and 60% of adults it is very important to change their eating habits. As a result of bad eating habits, if at the age of 14-15 only 47% are over-weighted, at the age of 30-44 100% of adults are over-weighted.

A healthy weight is the weight your body naturally settles into when you consistently eat a nutritious diet, are physically active, and balance the calories you eat with the physical activity you do. Reaching a specific weight is not as important as the lifestyle changes you make to become healthy.

When it comes to food, don’t think restrictively, but more through a selection of recommendations. Keeping to those recommendations will let you build healthy eating habits and eating will become a natural need followed by the choice of the right foods. This will not be because you are keeping to a specific diet, it will be a result of your habits.

The list of sources

https://www.kp.ru/guide/zdorovoe-pitanie.html

https://domashniy.ru/zdorovoe-pitanie-i-diety/chto_takoe_zdorovoe_pitanie/ 

https://ugra-news.ru/upload/iblock/e45/e4553aef8769b60ef3303694bef731ea.jpg 

https://www.syl.ru/article/380201/zdorovaya-pischa-printsipyi-i-osnovyi-zdorovogo-pitaniya 

http://www.uvelka.ru/cook_together/zdorovoe_pitanie.html 

https://www.kakprosto.ru/kak-880384-kak-opredelit-tip-teloslozheniya 

https://fitseven.ru/myschtsy/kak-nakachatsa/tipy-teloslojeniya-i-trenirovki