Everything about Food Groups

This review was done by a researcher from Oxford University, Ayton, in conjunction with a scientist employee at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation, Ibrahim. This review article explores the interaction between correlated dietary trends, specifically those between the different types of eating disorders, obesity, and the evolution of the Western diet. The limits of their research would be due to the fact that their correlation cannot definitively be accepted as causation without further evidence beyond logical association, without being flawed enough to completely dismiss their hypothesis as a health concern relevant to nutrition.

This source is a Graduate thesis of Bertelli Pisetti, a student in sustainability and economics at Fordham University published in 2024, making it relevant to modern food struggles. It reviews the economic disparities that create nutritional disparities in America, which are related both to overconsumption and underconsumption, and possible solutions. The most advantageous portions of the current project were those relating to human health, ecological sustainability of current diet trends, and the economic forces correlated to these trends rather than the portions of the paper on their economic side effects. Because the author was an economics major as well, there was a particular focus on nonhealth-related topics but did not subtract from the overall efficacy. 

This article was written by a number of researchers from Purdue University’s Department of Nutrition Science and Department of Food Science. In this article, the researchers analyzed the eating events that would occur as a physiological response to consumption of macromolecules. The researchers initially focused on the events that would cause consumption of macromolecules by using planned meal times to change the metabolic signals, before shifting their focus to creating a specific portion size per meal to control the endocrine response to macromolecules, and finally ending their focus on the reward signals sent out by the brain in an attempt to control eating disorders. This research is beneficial because it illustrates that direct physiological changes that can occur within one’s body with specific dietary restrictions such as portion size and meal frequency, as well as provides insight into how people with eating disorders can understand and manage their condition. 

In this article, the authors endeavored to analyze what nutrition information is available on the internet, what nutrition information college students want, and what information is deemed pertinent by educators and experts. This study showed that available information on the internet is not targeted at college students. Data from focus groups of both students and experts showed high levels of agreement on what information students need and the relative importance of the information. The authors are all professionals who either work for a university or with companies who work closely with universities. This paper is important because it shows that there is a need for relevant information about nutrition and that college students have a desire for this relevant information. 

In this study, the authors were interested in ascertaining the effectiveness of web-based nutrition education. The authors determined through several tests that a web-based nutrition education platform is compelling and relevant to the college population. The authors suggested that web-based nutrition education is feasible and could be beneficial. The authors were a combination of university affiliated researchers and professional researchers. This study is important to our efforts because it validates the feasibility of our endeavor. 

Hagedorn-Hatfield is an assistant professor at Meredith College and she researches lifestyle interventions for chronic disease prevention and has served as project coordinator for multiple USDA-funded research programs. Rolfes is a registered dietitian nutritionist and founding member of Nutrition and Health Associates.  She has co-authored a number of textbooks, including this one, which has been updated with the latest available research from the field, and the most recent dietary guidelines. This study is a literature review that focuses on addressing socioeconomic and psychological factors that limit college students’ access to and selection of food.  Implementations that have shown success in addressing these issues are discussed.

This article was written by a doctor of physical rehabilitation and a doctor of emergency medicine, and they discuss the necessity of macromolecules in the average diet and what they mean regarding intake and energy consumption. Specifically, the pair write about the individual macromolecules and the benefits that they provide, respectively. They additionally report the complications that can arise with both over and underconsumption of macromolecules, as well as discussions for proper intake, weight loss, and special populations. This articles is beneficial because it illustrates a medical perspective on the basic macromolecules and demonstrates the importance of maintaining a consistent and balanced diet. 

This is a compilation of articles by researchers in subfields of nutrition and the varied authors were carefully selected but this also means that the reputability of information can vary from section to section. The section referenced was section 4, dietary requirements for specific groups. This helped especially to inform the needs of vegetarians and some vitamin underconsumption which can inform what a proper diet should address in terms of nutritional needs. 

Dr. Hagedorn-Hatfield has conducted research on lifestyle interventions for chronic disease prevention and served as project coordinator for multiple USDA funded research programs, and has worked as a consulting bariatric dietitian.  This paper is a literature review identifying factors that have influenced the extreme prevalence (41%) of food insecurity among United States college students.

Hoque is a pharmecuticals at Jahangirnagar University in Bangledesh. The study is a review of current research on vitamin sources and the effects of vitamin deficiencies. This helps to inform the types of foods that would be beneficial in a meal plan and sources of nutrients as well as establish need in the community as a potential health detriment.

This study systematically synthesized peer-reviewed literature on the predictors, barriers to, and facilitators of using campus food pantries among United States college students.  Results indicate multiple correlations between student demographics and likelihood to utilize a university food pantry.

This source is a compilation of sections by several authors which bolsters its reputability because of the amount of peer review it has undergone. This source outlines the exact nutrients humans need in their diet and the quantities that help to inform the content of the ideal diet and enables a contrast to current findings on our target audience’s diet

This source was a survey by a professor of Nutrition at Appalachian state University with a random sample of 1,093 students. It’s especially helpful because the dietary and environmental climate between this school and S&T is comparable. The survey asked them questions which related to food insecurity, their health, and coping strategies for low funding. This helps to inform the existence of the problem and the exact strategies a meal plan must appeal to in order to be accessible

This article was a short-term longitudinal study of college students using a self-reporting food journal done by the health science and statistics department of the University of Brasilia. The main source of error in a study like this would be that self-reporting can at times be biased or inaccurate because small meal additions can be easily overlooked when trying to recall intake, but there is also the possible source of error in the fact that brands and composition were not exact in the recording journals. This study was used to inform on what nutrients are generally lacking in a college student’s diet in comparison to an ideal one so that these needs can be met or exceeded within the meal plan. This is because the use of the meal plan will likely be sporadic so optimizing and exceeding undermet needs would better supplement a typical diet. It also establishes an unmet need for which a meal plan may provide benefits. 

A Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science Professor at Brigham Young University, Rickelle Richards, used a survey to investigate the effects of food insecurity on college students. Of his relatively small sample of 58 students, nearly half were food insecure and the comparison between parties helped to isolate why there were consequences like lower nutrition in food insecure students.

Sogari is an Associate Professor at the Department of Food and Drug at the University of Parma, and his studies seek to enhance understanding of consumer trends.  This journal interviewed 35 Cornell University students and sought to categorize possible factors influencing diet through an ecological perspective.  Common barriers to healthy eating and subjects’ general perceptions about healthy eating were identified.  This study may shed light on the types of interventions that will prove most clinically relevant in promoting awareness and adherence to nutritionally dense food selections in college students.

Bernard J. Venn is a nutritionist associated with the University of Otago with over 4,000 citations on dozens of articles related to nutrition and dietary health in the United States. In this article, Venn discusses the necessity of macromolecules (named macronutrients) and analyzes the macromolecule percentages of multiple different populations, and reports what these potential imbalances mean in terms of nutritional deficiencies and health effects. Venn also analyzes the given recommended percentage values by various organizations for ideal nutritional health, and he compares and contrasts this with populations that mostly fall in line with these recommendations and populations that are very far away from the recommendations. This study is beneficial because it shows a scientific assertation on daily values of macronutrients, and how people respond to their environments through their diets.