Interview Questions & Answers
1. Does the subject eat fortified foods? YES Does he/she know what a fortified food
is? NO Can he/she give any examples of fortified foods? NO
2. Can the subject list foods that contain high amounts of or are good sources of
each of the following: vitamin A, D, E, K, and B12?
A: NO
D: Milk
E: NO
K: Subject said bananas (incorrect)
B12: Fish/Red Meat
3. Does the subject take a vitamin supplement? YES (D3/K2, fish oil, and vitamin
C). Why or why not? The D3/K2 is for bone and cardiovascular health, the
fish oil is for cardiovascular health, and the vitamin C is for immune support.
If he/she takes supplements, how much does he/she spend a month on vitamins?
The subject spends about $50.00 a month.
4. What resources does the subject use to get most of their nutrition information?
The Internet and Webinars.
5. How many times a week does the subject eat vegetables? How many servings per
day? The subject eats vegetables about 3 times per week and about one
serving a day.
6. Does the subject know what a serving is? Have him/her show you. Yes the
subject stated a serving is the size of her palm.
7. How does he/she cook vegetables? The subject either boils or sautés her
vegetables.
8. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being not valued much and 10 being highly valued), ask
the subject to rate how valuable health is. 10
9. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being poor and 10 being great), ask the subject to rate
his/her current health status. 6
10. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a weak match and 10 being a strong match), ask the
subject to rate how well his/her current eating habits line up or match with the
value placed on health. Have him/her expand or explain the answer. In this
discussion, ask if he/she can identify any barriers to overall health. In other words,
if the above scores do not match, why does he/she think that is the case? The
subject rated the match at a 7. The subject stated that some barriers present
are money and time. The subject explained that eating “healthy” is expensive
and time consuming. The subjected stated that working long hours prevents
her from having time to cook a healthy meal, so she turns to what’s quick
and convenient and that’s fast food. By not being able to obtain a healthy
diet, the subject feels it prevents her from her full health potential.
11. What concerns does the subject have about diet or health, if any? The subject is
concerned about her blood sugar, blood pressure, and inflammation.
12. If the subject were to learn more about nutrition, what specifically would he/she
like to learn about or what would be helpful to him/her in the present situation?
The subject would like to learn cheap ways to eat healthy. The subject would
also like to learn how to maintain a leveled blood sugar and lower her blood
pressure by consuming certain foods rather than taking medication.
Report
Demographics
The subject I chose is a 45-year-old heterosexual African American woman. She is 4 foot
11 inches and weighs 155 pounds. Her socioeconomic status is classified as middle class.
Data
The subject did not know what fortified foods were. In fact, the subject never even heard
of fortified foods. Once I explained to the subject that fortified foods were items such as
bread, milk, eggs, cereal, and yogurt, the subject discovered that she did in fact consume
fortified foods. The subject could not list foods that were high in vitamins A, E, or K. She
was able to identify foods that were high in vitamins D and B12. The subject does take
vitamins daily (Vitamin C, D3/K2, and fish oil), but did not have specific reasons why. I
asked the subject why she consumed supplements and the benefits of each supplement
and the subject did not know. She had to read the labels on the vitamins to find out the
benefits. The subject was asked about serving sizes. The subject stated that a serving was
the size of her palm. I asked if each of the five food groups was the same serving. The
subject said that she believed each food group had the same recommended serving size. I
explained the concept of proportionality; which is the relationship of one entity to
another. Vegetables and fruits should be consumed in a higher proportion than dairy and
protein foods in the diet1. After explaining the concept of proportions and introducing
MyPlate, it seemed the subject understood the concept of servings and proportions much
more. The subject stated that she consumed about 3 servings of vegetables per week, but
after listening to her diet choices I feel its closer to 1 maybe 2 servings a week. The
subject stated that she usually boils her vegetables but prefers to sauté them. The subject
did acknowledge the fact that sautéing foods are not as beneficial as simply baking or
boiling them. She even mentioned that the most beneficial way is to consume vegetables
raw and that cooking vegetables takes away a lot of the nutrients.
I believe that the subject’s scores do not match. Listening to the types of foods this
individuals eats I would score her current health status at more of a 4. The subject seems
to eat an abundance of sweets and skips meals frequently. As far as the score for the
subjects eating habits in correlation to the value they put on health, I would give that
subject a 3. The individual knows the importance of health and the role it plays on the
body but her eating habits do not nearly display the same importance. The subject prefers
to eat healthier but does not turn these preferences into actions. The subject also has a bad
habit of eating an over abundance of food in one sitting, which is also correlated to an
unhealthy diet.
I agree that time proposes a slight issue for this individual. When working 7AM-6PM 7
days a week, finding time to cook a meal can be challenging. Most people when they’re
tired and do not have the energy to cook they turn towards convenience. Unfortunately,
convenience has a price and that’s usually fried, unhealthy foods. I can understand how it
is hard to balance work and finding the proper amount of time to cook a decent meal, but
it is not impossible. One thing I do not agree with is money being an issue. The subject
stated that eating healthy was expensive. To me this is far from true. If you compare
buying healthier foods to cook at home and eating out, you will find that buying healthier
foods to cook at home is cheaper in the long run.
The subject’s source of nutritional information seems to be somewhat credible. I believe
the webinars are a great source of information and can provide some great tips and
reliable information regarding nutrition. The subject also explained that she reads a lot of
public based forums and websites that are generated by the generalized population. In my
opinion these are not credible sources and are made up of peoples opinions. Though the
websites may seem helpful they do not display facts most of the time.
The subject seems to not be as knowledgeable about nutrition as she may believe. It
seems others have a huge impact on the individual’s nutritional beliefs. The individual
seems to want to have a healthier lifestyle but does not want to commit to the change. I
also believe the individual feels as though her diet is not bad but could use just slight
improvement. I believe that the individual is in denial with her unhealthy habits and is
ashamed of admitting to them.
A public health nutritionist can set forth goals for individuals like the one interviewed.
The nutritionist can provide factual information regarding the importance of diet and
exercise to the individuals in need. The nutritionist can provide the individuals with
specific foods that are required within a healthy diet and can also provide different ways
to obtain these foods. A nutritionist will be able to advise individuals on ways to consume
a healthy diet and lead an overall healthy lifestyle.
The individuals concern and interest were how to use foods as a fix to medical problems
in place of medications. This is a great concern and interest being the subject suffers from
high blood sugar levels and high blood pressure. The foods that the subject consumes are
not helping subside these current medical conditions.
My recommendations for the subject would be to put more effort into her food selection.
I advise the subject to take at least 4 nights out of the week to cook a well-balanced
healthy meal. I suggest researching some different recipes that can be affordable and less
time consuming to cook throughout the week. Try to minimize the amount of fast food
that is being eaten. I would also suggest limiting the amount of sweets to maybe once or
twice a month ideally; this will really help reduce the high blood sugar levels. I would
also suggest upping the amount of vegetables a week; instead of 3 servings, I would try
4-6 servings a week. Vegetables are very affordable and take little to no time to cook or
can even be eaten raw. My last recommendation would be to try the DASH (dietary
approaches to stop hypertension) diet and lowering the amount of sodium consumed. This
diets focuses on increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, low fat or nonfat dairy, lean
meats, fish and poultry, and nuts and beans. Increasing the consumption of these foods
can help the individual naturally lower their blood pressure without the use of
medications. Many studies have been done in regards to the DASH diet. According to a
study in The New England Journal of Medicine, the benefits of following the DASH diet
have been shown to contribute to the prevention and treatment of hypertension2. The
study shows that lowering the intake of sodium along with following the DASH diet will
contribute to the lowering of blood pressure for the average American. The combined
effects on blood pressure of a low sodium intake and the DASH diet were greater than the
effects of either intervention alone and were substantial2.
References
1. Blake JS, Munoz KD, Volpe S. Nutrition from Science to You. Pearson
Education. 2016; 3: 50-54.
2. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, et al. Effects on Blood Pressure of Reduced
Dietary Sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet.
The New England Journal of Medicine. 2001;344:3-10.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200101043440101#t=article.
Accessed September 23, 2017
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