Assignment task:
Performance Task: Evaluating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Scenario: You will act in a consultancy role for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), undertaking an evaluation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Part 1 - Reviewing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Your first task in the evaluation is to review the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Select a specific key recommendation within the guidelines, and identify scientific evidence used to inform the chosen guideline/key recommendation. At this stage, you are not looking for new scientific evidence, rather you are reviewing the existing research used to support and inform a specific key recommendation within the current guidelines.
Select and describe a key recommendation within the current guidelines and the reason for your choice.
Identify three (3) resources cited in the current guidelines that include supporting scientific evidence used to inform the selected guideline/key recommendation.
Resources should be of varied research type from peer-reviewed journals (e.g., observational research, epidemiological research, randomized controlled trial).
Provide references using full APA formatting.
In your own words, explain how each resource informed the selected guideline/key recommendation. Need Assignment Help?
Part 2 - Recommendations for an Updated Guideline
It is important that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans undergo evaluation to include the most up-to-date information. Your next task is to make recommendations for an updated edition of the guideline/key recommendation by finding up-to-date, supporting, and/or contrasting scientific evidence. Through your research, you may find scientific evidence to strengthen or weaken the current guideline/key recommendation. To prepare for reporting back to the USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee, you will critically analyze the resources you find to inform your recommendations.
Identify three (3) resources (dated within the past 5 years of the publication date of the current guidelines) that provide more recent scientific evidence to inform the guideline/key recommendation.
Resources should be of varied research type from peer-reviewed journals (e.g., observational research, epidemiological research, randomized controlled trial).
Provide references using full APA formatting.
In your own words, explain how each resource either strengthens or weakens the current guideline/key recommendation.
Consider:
Common themes and/or differences found within the recent scientific evidence
If the wording or intent of the selected guideline/key recommendation should be changed
Part 3 - Application of the Guideline
Your final task is to consider how you may apply your findings to a specific setting, such as home, school, workplace, community, or retail operation. Following your learning from Part 1 and Part 2, you will determine how the guideline/key recommendation might be applied in a setting familiar to you and the ways in which you might influence policy to help others meet this in practice.
Select a specific setting to focus on. Describe your chosen setting and the reason for your choice.
- In the home
- In schools
- In the workplace
- In the community
- In retail operations
Recommend three (3) ways to influence policy in your selected setting to help people meet the guideline/key recommendation.
Propose educational opportunities that could help people in your selected setting understand the guideline/key recommendation.