Nutrition Physics ACT IN AGING
Assignment 3
The objective of this assignment is to give you a working knowledge of useful tools for dietary and
activity assessment that are available to the public. Because every person’s food and activity
patterns vary from day to day, it would be important to assess food and activity for several days to
draw conclusions with confidence, but this assignment using two days will acquaint you with the tools
that are available for these assessments.
For this assignment, you will need to record and analyze eating and activity patterns for 48 hours for
yourself. If possible, include one weekday and one weekend day but that is not a requirement. You
will not be graded on the “quality” of your diet or the extent of your physical activity, rather your
grade will be based on successfully using the SuperTracker (and printing the required sheets) and
answering the questions specified below.
Go to http://www.supertracker.usda.gov
For two days (48-hr period), complete both the “Food Tracker” and the “Physical Activity Tracker” links
from this web address. You will need to keep a record of what you ate (including quantities and how it
was prepared, i.e. fried, grilled, etc.) and of the time spent on various types of activities.
The SuperTracker is a powerful tool for assessing nutrient intake and physical activity; thus you will
need to spend some time looking at the food item data base before you can appropriately collect and
record dietary data. Register as a “user” early in the week so that you can understand the level of
detail needed on food items, portion sizes, and physical activities.
How to work with the SuperTracker? http://www.supertracker.usda.gov/default.aspx
Step 1: Open the web site, click on login on the far right and register as a returning or new user.
Step 2: Create your own profile (or the profile for the person you are assessing). Do not forget to
type in the information about height and weight
Step 3: Click on the Food Tracker. (Under “Track Food and Activity”). Click food details. Select the
day/date. Type in the first food item consumed. Enter the amount. Choose the meal at which this item
was consumed. Continue for every food item and beverage consumed during the 48 hours you are
recording. Work your way through from early morning to late night for each day. Find the most
appropriate item in the list to match the items consumed. Review the food record to be sure you have
included all food and drinks. (In your report, you can tell us the dates you actually collected
information, but to get a two-day average, it is easier to enter the foods as consecutive days.)
Step 4: Click on the Physical Activity Tracker. Type in the first activity. Next type in the number
of minutes and then select the day. You should account for 1440 minutes per day (24 hrs x 60 minutes
per hr). Unfortunately, this program will allow you to enter more than 1440 minutes for 24 hours
without giving an error message, so you need to check your entries carefully. Continue entering
activities until you have accounted for all 24 hours in the day (including sleep which is found under
“other”) and continue for the two days (total 48 hours) required for this project.
Step 5: Print the following reports to turn in or save it as a pdf, then uploaded on the proessay
order page or uploaded on sendspace.com and copy the link for me
o Food Groups and Calories Report
o Nutrients Report
o Food Details (Based on the nutrients report, click on the nutrients you plan to discuss
as highest and lowest)
o Physical Activity
Finally
Step 6: Use the reports you have printed to answer the following questions, which should also be
submitted:
• How does the average intake of nutrients compare to recommendations. Which three nutrients
were lowest in comparison to recommendations. Which three were highest?
• In which of the Food Group Categories was the person you are analyzing sufficient and in which
were the goals not met (either too much or not enough).
• Indicate what might be the reasons for insufficient intake or excessive intake and what dietary
changes might allow these to be corrected.
• Comment on the physical activity (The physical activity report is based on a week, but you can
see how well you have progressed toward the goals in 2/7 of a week).