GETTING STARTED, pp. 3–8

Decorative Image: Image of a page from the Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Guide for Young Women

Young women typically consume one serving of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily.

Source: CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2000.

Speaker Notes:

Questions 4–12 ask about a patient's eating behaviors and how much she eats from different food groups.

This is important to know because young women should eat a variety of foods from all the food groups in order to meet their nutritional needs.

Many young women in the United States aren't doing this. For example, they:

• Consume one serving of fruit per day compared with the recommended 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit or 100% fruit juice daily

• Consume approximately 2-3 cups of vegetables per day compared with the recommended four or more servings daily

Note that the questions ask about the number of times per day a woman eats foods from different food groups rather than number of servings. This is because most people tend to think about and describe their eating in terms of frequency rather than serving sizes. The Counseling Support Tool will help you make appropriate recommendations about how much your patient should eat on a daily basis from the different food groups.