December Summary

Do you think that using freshman students enrolled in a dietetic course affected the outcome? Why or why not? There was an overwhelming opinion that the subjects selected for this study may have skewed the results. Choosing students enrolled in a dietetic course shows that they may already have an interest in nutrition and healthy eating. The study also excluded men and many believe that this would have made for a better study.

If you were a dietitian in Japan how would you address your young clients on the consumption of soft drinks? Most comments were aimed at replacing or reducing the amount of soda individuals consume. Educating clients that soft drinks provide little nutritional value and that limiting these drinks is important. Choosing healthy alternatives such as milk, tea, or water would be better choices. Switching to diet soda would also be a healthier alternative. Most agree that diest can still be healthy even when we drink soda.

The results of this study show that soft drink intake is positively associated with intake of fat and oil. What are some possible reasons for this increase? It was frequently suggested that the increase of fat and oil intake was due to poor food choices made by soft drinkers. Individuals who consume soft drinks frequently are getting them from fast food restaurants which serve high fat foods. This would attribute to the increased fat and oil increase. Another possible reason for this increase is that sweet drinks increase the desire for salty foods, including those laiden with fat and calories.