Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care

UNIT 21: NUTRITION FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARESimple surveys amongst other learners could provide useful data to explore the socialfactors that influence food intake, and provide material for discussion and suggestionof ways to change dietary habits. This could be linked to Unit 20: Health Educationand Unit 22: Research Methodology for Health and Social Care. Some learners mightwish to extend this and use it as research for their own small scale health educationcampaign for the assessment of Unit 20, or as part of a larger research project forthe assessment of Unit 22.Use of specialist contributions from, for example, health visitors, dieticians, or publichealth nutritionists, could be useful for specific aspects of the unit.Representatives from companies specialising in, for example, nutritional support forthe older infirm adult could also usefully contribute. Learners could be introduced todifferent methods of measuring food intake, the use of food analysis tables ordatabases, and the principles of menu planning, before commencing the diet analysisand menu planning activities required for the assessment of these aspects of theunit.AssessmentEvidence for this unit is likely to be generated through assignment tasks structuredaround the pass criteria, with evidence for the higher grades requiring learners tobring together knowledge and understanding from across the unit as appropriate.Two assignments could be used for the assessment of this unit.The first could be based on nutritional concepts, nutrients and factors that influencedietary intake, thus assessing P1, P2, P3, M1, M2 and D1.For M1, learners are not required to describe in detail health conditions arising frompoor diet, but should be able to explain the nutritional issues surrounding differentconditions, such as nutritional causes or consequences, dietary changes involved inmanaging the disorder, and reasons for these changes. Learners should be able torelate the changes to both nutrients and foods eaten.The second assignment could be used as the basis of evidence for P4, P5, M3 and D2.For the quantitative analysis, learners may choose to use themselves as theindividual, or somebody known to them. The chosen person would not normally be apatient or service user from a placement.Consent should be obtained, and the individual should maintain an accurate fooddiary for the specified period, to include portion sizes and appropriate detail of thefood, such as cooking method, or with/without skin. Records of activity (such asminutes walking, sitting, cycling) could be kept over the same period to add detail tolifestyle data on the individual, but full information about, for example, eating,drinking habits, or use of nutritional supplements could be obtained through aninformal interview.Learners should be expected to present the quantitative data systematically usingaccepted formats such as tables or charts. Sources of food analysis data used shouldbe acknowledged. The nutritional plan should be for a similar period to the oneanalysed, and indicate foods to be consumed as meals, snacks and drinks, portionsizes, preparation methods and other relevant details. Information on nutritionrelatedlifestyle changes should also be indicated.BN018467 – Specification – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care– Issue 1 – February 2007 © Edexcel Limited 2007289