| a critical perspective, we will broaden our horizons and think more globally. Nutrition in the United States, as we all now know, is continuing to increase. The obesity data show we are not yet at the peak of this trend. In fact, obesity data indicates the Pandemic exacerbated the trend.
Watch the 15-minute video and read a brief article about Professor Fenyvesi, MS, RD (below), who brought a film crew with him to Nicaragua, a country that Professor Fenyvesi studies the nutrition and culture as a Fulbright Scholar. Professor Fenyvesi has dedicated his life to studying and helping the diets of Latin Americans, including in Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, and specifically working closely with Bastyr’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Science in Nicaragua. He has also Dan been collaborating with faculty and students at ULACIT, Costa Rica (Universidad Latinoamericana De Ciencia Y Tecnologia), which recently partnered with to the University of Arizona.
Watch, take some notes, and answer one of the questions below. Respond thoroughly with works cited and/or about the science of nutrition for the food discussed.
1) A Faustian Bargain: Obesity in Nicaragua
2) https://www.whatrdsdo.com/interviews/2018/6/18/dan-fenyvesi-ms-rd?format=amp
- If Nicaragua, from an economic point of view, is the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, how is it that they have an obesity epidemic? Provide examples and reasoning in a well-developed post.
- Using the science of what you have learned about various foods, explain how Nicaragua’s diet changing from its more traditional diet to a ‘modern’ diet is a negative event.
- Why is it difficult for people in the city-like areas to return to a basic, more healthy diet in Nicaragua? Thoroughly explain and/or use any examples you may know from your own life experiences.
- How did the diet of the western world (primarily the US) negatively impact the food of Nicaragua. Why did this change occur: name and explain several reasons you found by watching the short film (civil war, wealth/economics, status of success in Nicaragua, and more).
- Michael Pollan, a journalist who wrote a major film documentary we did not watch this session, In Defense of Food, discusses several thought provoking ideas. One such idea is that to escape the harmful health consequences of the Western diet, we can either wait centuries for evolution to adapt our bodies to junk food, or take a much more practical and economical path: change the way we’re eating. Something that’s a lot simpler than we may think. He offers us a simple seven-word guide to healthier eating: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. How does this statement and these ideas relate to the short film you viewed? You should be aware that outside the cities of Nicaragua, in the countryside, obesity rates drop. Use science terms learned in the class to explain your thoughts. (See also this 3-minute snippet on Michael Pollan’s seven words).
- What other views do you have from watching this short film that you wish to discuss, along with any relationship to healthful eating and making best choices that we learned in this course?
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