Mr. Begums’ meal plan contains different nutritional composition. It is imperative to consider that while his weight is 85Kg, and a height of 1.68, the body mass index is 30.1Kg/M². This is reflecting a person who is obese and measures ought to be taken to reduce the effects of imbalanced nutrients. Mr. Begums’ meal plan is hugely dependent on various factors that contradict nutritional requirements of a person of his age.
At the outset, the breakfast consists of cereals and sugar, which are important for energy and recommended for people across all age categories. It also contains lot of calories for a person of his age considering that he is obese and would need to reduce sugar. It is imperative to note that fried eggs and toasts are sources of proteins and energy respectively but may increase calories’ intake.
Mr. Begums has a tendency of drinking huge amounts of tea, which may predispose him to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). At the very least, he takes three cups of tea on a daily basis. At the morning hours he takes, sugar, juice, fizzy drinks, chocolate and sweets. All these sources of sugar may increase his blood sugar and expose him to the risk of diabetes (Shils 2005, pp. 21). It is imperative to note that despite being overweight, he continues to increase the levels of fat in his diets. Animal fats and proteins are outstanding part of his diet. Cheese, ghee, yoghurt and butter are substantial sources of animal fat, which contains high levels of cholesterol (Curley 1990, pp. 34).
Cholesterol exposes an individual to a high possibility of CVDs. Fries are a source of fat, which ideally, should be kept at a low. He has a tendency of eating Jacket potatoes and fried chips and fish. All these sources of food have exposed Mr. Begums to health problems emanating from unhealthy dietary habits.
Discussions
Mr. Begums’ meal plan exposes him to multiple risk factors. First, he may develop Diabetes. The disease results when the pancreas is unable to produce insulin (Webb 2002, pp. 32). This happens when the body is not capable of using the insulin produced by the pancreas in an effective manner. Evidently, Mr. Begum is obese and considering that it is a major causative factor of diabetes, he is at risk of contracting the disease. Another factor that may predispose Mr. Begums to diabetes is age. At 56 years old, the individual is prone an increased risk of diabetes (Galdston 2002, pp.11). Additionally, he is not used to exercising and drives to work despite the distance to work being short. This may amplify his possibilities of becoming diabetic.
Second, he is at the risk of developing Cardiovascular Diseases. CVDs results when the veins are unable to provide the heart with sufficient blood supply. It may result to stroke, heart attack or even heart failure (Webb 2002, pp. 12). The rationale behind this claim is that Mr. Begums consumes huge amounts of dietary components that heighten the chances of developing CVD. Tea composes many of his snacks. It is worth noting that tea contains nicotine, which increases the chances of a CVD (Curley 1990, pp. 74).
The effects are long-term notwithstanding the number of milligrams that an individual may consume on daily basis. In addition, it is worth mentioning the meal plan of Mr. Begums consists of high amounts of cholesterol. On a daily basis, he takes eggs, ghee, cheese, butter, yoghurt, and meat, all of which increases the level of cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is among the leading causes of CVDs in the UK. Obesity is another cause of CVD same as lack of exercises.
Causes of the meal plan
There are various causes of the dietary imbalances in the meal plan of Mr. Begums. At the outset, the social setting is a major causative factor. He is married with a teenager and lives at home. This implies that dietary composition is highly imbalanced owing to different nutrients requirements of the three age categories of people. His teenage children require high energy in their food given their stage of human development and growth (Curley 1990, pp.74). As such, sugars and fats are typical of their meal plan, as they tend to provide high levels of energy. That notwithstanding, the diet is as such unhealthy for adults whose energy requirements are not as much.
Secondly, his religion influences much of the family’s dietary habits. It is important to realize that different religions have different culinary emphasis. This may indeed limit some of dietary habits that an individual may require for healthy development. Considering that Mr. Begums is a Muslim, there are prohibitions that come with the religious affiliation. While we consider that, he is suffering the risk of CVD, such prescriptions as small amounts of alcohol in his dietary habits may lower the high lipoproteins. Nonetheless, Islam as a religion strictly disallows alcohol, which may affect the cholesterol levels negatively (Curley 1990, pp. 83).
Consequently, he might tend not to indulge in health eating habits as such. Besides, the family tendency to replace the usual diets on Fridays in the family may be because of religion’s day of worship. Thus, their meals consist of unhealthy diets such as chips and fried fish. This severely affects the chances of a balanced diet and meat plan.
Thirdly, the lifestyle of Mr. Begums is another factor that might affect his dietary habits and ultimately his health. Primarily, he rarely exercises despite his unhealthy body mass index. This implies that high amounts of fat that he consumes do not ‘burn out’ and thus he is exposed to high risk of lifestyle diseases and high levels of fat in the blood. It is important to notice that Mr. Begums in the context of an office (Webb 2002, pp. 13). This implies that most of the time he spends working and rarely gets to exercise. In the contemporary and conventional office contexts, many people remain seated for many hours (Mahan 2000, pp. 31). This does not only expose the workers to high level risk of becoming unhealthy but it also reduces the time that these people could be exercising (Curley 1990, pp. 71).
Action Plan
There is a need for an immediate change in the meal plan and activities of Mr. Begum. This is in the aim of reducing the risk factors that he is exposed to. To avoid high risk of diabetes, Mr. Begums ought to maintain a healthy weight. This is in terms of reducing his body mass index and ultimately reducing his weight, which portrays him as obese (Webb 2002, pp. 12). First, there should be a reduction of sugary food and drinks.
During breakfast, Mr. Begum ought to reduce his intake of sugar in his milk and juice. In fact, he should focus on having the right quantities of cereals and milk. A cup of milk and a boiled egg could also serve to reduce his fat and sugar intake. Besides, he should include a fruit instead of taking juice, which contain high quantities of sugar. White bread also needs to be substituted with brown bread that contains high levels of fiber and cereals.
While we consider that Mr. Begums also suffers from the risk of becoming diabetic, he ought to reduce his lunchtime eating habits. He should consider taking more vegetables and reduce his daily intake of ghee, butter, and cheese (Mahan 2000, pp. 56). This animal product exposes him to high risk of cholesterol owing to the high levels of high lipoprotein levels and fatty acids. This is in lieu of the fact that the two predisposes him to high danger of a CDV. Increase of oily fish in his diet instead of chips ought to characterize his evening meals. Oily fishes such as salmons reduce the risk of high lipoproteins that prompt CDV. At his age, Mr. Begums’ nutrients requirements should include more of proteins owing to the need of the body to replenish and repair worn out tissues.
Mr. Begum should also increase his exercises. In the light of the fact that his workplace is a short distance from home, he ought to walk to work. This should happen at least thrice in a week. It is important to consider a gym routine where he can reduce his weight and remain fit.
Conclusion
In sum, the case study portrays huge dietary imbalances that could expose Mr. Begums to high nutritional risk factors. First, his body mass index indicates that he is overweight. This is because of his high calories intake from sugar and fatty foods. He has the tendency of taking snacks that are a source of sugar. Second, his meal plan predisposes him to many different dietary and lifestyle diseases. They include obesity, diabetes, CVDs amongst many other risky diseases.
The causative factors of his meal plan could be because of his social background since he comes from Pakistan and is a Muslim. In addition, the family setting predisposes him to a meal that does not cater for his nutritional requirements. It is therefore imperative for him to embark on healthy meal plan that would reduce his weight by lowering sugar and fat intake that is typical of his diet. He should increase his exercise tendencies. Besides, he should increase vegetables, fruits and oily fish intake.
References
Curley, S 1990, The Natural Guide to Good Health, Lafayette, Louisiana, Supreme Publishing.
Galdston, I 2002, Diet and Nutrition Revisited, New York, International Universities Press.
Mahan, L 2000, Krause’s Food, Nutrition, and Diet Therapy, Philadelphia, Saunders Harcourt Brace.
Shils, T 2005, Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, New York, Lippincott Williams &Wilkins Publishers.
Webb, G 2002, Nutrition a Health Promotion Approach, Oxford, Arnold Publishing.