THE TEENAGERS BETWEEN CULINARY TRADITION AND FAST FOOD

2012-2014

COMENIUS FOOD

FOOD PYRAMID AND NUTRITIONAL COMPONENTSBy Italian Students and Comenius Team

At the time of ourgrandparents,Italian people …ate less And moved more.

Nowadays we know that that lifestyle was healthy, but today there is a risk of being attracted to other kinds of foods, inspired only by business reasons rather than by welfare.

Will be really this our evolution?

In Italy there is a public institution, the I.N.R.A.N. (National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition), who wrote the guidelines for a healthy diet.

Teenagers are strongly influenced for food by friends and by the fashion of fast food. They are switching to foods which, although practical and tasty, are high in calories, fat and salt from the nutritional point of view.If such kind of food becomes too frequent, the diet can be unbalanced and this may cause a risk to health.

11Risks of an unbalanced diet

The erroneous assumption of foods, both in quantity and quality, can be an important factor in the determination of disease states such as:•Hypertension•Cardiovascular disease•Overweight and obesity•Metabolic diseases (increased blood cholesterol and triglycerides)•Diabetes type 2•Osteoporosis•Cholelithiasis and hepatic steatosis (fatty liver)•Dental caries•Goiter from iodine deficiency•Some forms of tumors.The risk of obesity, in particular, is determined not only by an excess of energy intake, compared to those consumed, even by a sedentary lifestyle.

The food pyramidProper nutrition is essential for good quality of life. The traditional Mediterranean diet is nowadays considered one of the most effective in the world for health protection and isalso one of the most varied and balanced weknow. The Mediterranean diet is synonymouswith perfect balance and right proportionbetween the different nutrients:• protein: 15%• carbohydrates: 60%• fat: 25%.The food pyramid has been realized according to this model.At the base of the pyramid there are foods we can use more while at the top those that it isbetter to limit, in order to reduce overweight and prevent obesity and metabolic diseases.

Ten tips from the expertsYou can protect your health by eating better and

with more flavour. Here are some general guidelines developed by

nutrition experts.

Drink plenty of water every day!!

Vary your choices!!

.

Have always a healthy breakfast and avoid skipping meals!!

Consume at least 2 portions of fruit and 2 portions of vegetables every day!!

Cereals (bread, pasta, rice etc..) should be consumed daily!!

Eat fish at least twice a week (fresh or frozen)!!

Remember: legumes provide protein and fiber of good quality!!

Limit your intake of fats, especially those of animal origin, preferring the extra virgin olive oil

Do not exceed the consumption of salt!!

Limit your intake of sweets and pop-drinks during the day, and especially ...

Avoid “do it yourself” diets!!!