ASSIGNMENT NO 3

Assignment No 3

Assignment No 3

1. Discuss your own behaviour modification required for undertaking shift-work and adhering to a healthy lifestyle. Remember to include the following:

Ans.

* Your environment

Good nutrition and good food are essential for both the current and future health and well being of older people.

- Food and eating bring shape to a day and facilitate social interaction, as well as providing essential energy and nutrients.

- For older people food and nutrition remain a priority among the factors they associate with good personal care (and people aged 85 and over and those with disabilities ranked food and nutrition as the most important aspect of their personal care).

- To raise awareness of the benefits of a healthy diet as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Any barriers to change

In older people the effects of malnutrition can include liability to heart failure, risk of pneumonia and respiratory tract infections, risk of thromboembolism, pressure sores and risk of infection. The effect of chronic illness can further result in oral problems, depression, indigestion, malabsorption, constipation, incontinence, and swallowing difficulties.

Your motivation

Many people remain well as they get older, but they undergo:-

- changes in organ systems

- changes in body composition and metabolism.

· These changes happen at very different rates in different people

· Older people may have more frequent episodes of ill health and take

longer to recuperate from illnesses. To help minimise potential health

problems, a good diet and physical activity are essential.

* Your goals for change and adherence.

As people get older, they are usually less active and therefore use up fewer calories. Muscle fibres may get weaker and bone loss accelerates. Older people tend to lose muscle as their proportion of body fat increases. As they use up less energy, so they have less calorie dense food. Energy expenditure decreases progressively with age, even if the person does not have any illness.

2. Discuss the issues associated with undertaking shift-work. Remember to include:

Ans. While many studies have investigated the effect of shift-work on health, they have largely been performed on male subjects. One reason female subjects may have been excluded, is because of the confounding effect of the menstrual cycle. Women that work night shifts have been reported to have higher rates of menstrual irregularity and painful menstruation than non-shift workers (Totterdale et al., 1995). In addition, it has been established that food intake varies during the menstrual cycle, most women exhibiting higher energy intakes during the luteal phase (Barr, 1995). Not only does total food intake change but so does the composition of what is eaten. For example, carbohydrate consumption is known to increase during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, while protein and fat intake are higher during the luteal phase (Danker-Hopfe, 1995). However, because increasing numbers of women are resorting to shift work, since this allows them to both support their families and spend time with their children (Charles and Brown, 1981), they are an important group in any study investigating the effects of shift ...