Izabelle Mendez

04/03/2022

So, I didn’t match to a Dietetic Internship. This means I won’t be a dietitian and that’s ok. I truly believe when one door closes another door opens. I just want to thank everyone that supported me and encouraged me. Even in the face of rejection I want to encourage you to keep your head up and to continue to smile. Your worth is not determined on whether you match or you don’t. Keep moving forward and strive towards your goals.

03/11/2022

The community needs assessment is a critical piece in the program planning process.

Community needs assessments involve asking many questions, talking to a variety of stakeholders, and using multiple methods to gain understanding of your community before deciding how to move forward. The work of collecting data, opinions, and environmental characteristics helps to ensure that the program is matched to the needs of the audience and their environment.

Social and cultural conditions. The social and cultural fabric in communities can influence food norms, health beliefs, and values for food and nutrition. All of these factors impact food choices and, thus, nutrition status. Social factors include social norms and attitudes, safety of neighborhoods, social support and interactions, exposure to mass media, socioeconomic conditions, quality of education, and so on.

By culture, we mean the integrated pattern of human knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors that are learned and transmitted to succeeding generations. Many of our food habits, attitudes, and practices arise from the traditions, customs, belief systems, technologies, values, and norms of the culture in which we live.

For instance, in an assessment of the nutrition status of students with bulimia, certain background conditions—such as advertising, society’s emphasis on leanness, and cultural expectations about weight and body size—are likely to influence the students’ food patterns and body image. Furthermore, children who grow up seeing their peers choosing packaged snacks rather than fresh, whole foods learn to define a “snack” by what they see around them in society.

Teens may feel pressured to choose fast-food items after school when spending time with peers who prefer these foods. A decision to breastfeed may be influenced by important people in a mother’s social circle. In sum, we often feel compelled to follow the norms and expectations we see around us. Social and cultural norms can create expectations that drive behavior. This background information should be evaluated as part of the assessment

In collecting community environment data, you get a good understanding of social and cultural factors in your community. Now you can focus on your specific target population and learn the social and cultural norms around what your population eats at home, on the go, and in social settings. Religion may affect food practices for some people as well. Endeavor to understand the desirable and customary food choices for members of your target population.

To create a program that is relevant to your population, it is critical to understand their priorities and motivation.

03/11/2022

Super excited that I will be an intern for the NIH G-SOAR Program. I will be working in Anna María Nápoles' (PhD, MPH) lab. She is the scientific director in the department National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Program Summary:
G-SOAR students will spend the summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the world's leading scientists, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. During their internships at NIH, scholars perform research with a mentor in the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) where they will be immersed in a culture of translational science and will explore important elements of the basic, translational, and clinical research enterprise.

Vision statement for NIH Minority Health and Health Disparities:
NIMHD envisions an America in which all populations will have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy, and productive lives. To accomplish this, NIMHD raises national awareness about the prevalence and impact of health disparities and disseminates effective individual-, community-, and population-level interventions to reduce and encourage elimination of health disparities.

03/03/2022

It’s national nutrition month!

02/24/2022

For my nutrition & health promotion course we had to develop an intervention based on behavioral model or framework.

For my project I developed A social ecological model.

This model was used to develop the proposed church-based intervention at the:
individual level (to enhance nutrition knowledge)
interpersonal and community level (to assure strong support from family and community members)
policy level (to connect eligible seniors to SNAP and increase participation).

02/08/2022

Diversify Dietetics () added a video to their Instagram account: “What topics are you loving to see in your nutrition curriculum!? Shoutout to for this!…”

02/07/2022

Excessive fatigue and tiredness may be a sign of vitamin deficiency. This could include low levels of vitamin D, vitamin B-12, iron, magnesium, or potassium. A routine blood test can help identify a deficiency.

02/06/2022

Breakfast is often called ‘the most important meal of the day’, and for good reason.

As the name suggests, breakfast breaks the overnight fasting period.

It replenishes your supply of glucose to boost your energy levels and alertness, while also providing other essential nutrients required for good health.

Many studies have shown the health benefits of eating breakfast. It improves your energy levels and ability to concentrate.

If you don’t have breakfast, you might find you feel a bit sluggish and struggle to focus on things. This is because your brain hasn’t received the energy (glucose) it needs to get going.

Studies suggest that not having breakfast affects your mental performance, including your attention, ability to concentrate and memory. This can make some tasks feel harder than they normally would.

When I skip breakfast, I find that I struggle through the day and have more depressive symptoms. I lack the energy to do simple things like washing the dishes.

It took me awhile to realize that I’m not lazy, I’m just not fueling my self correctly.

02/06/2022

Life is short, so eating and food should be enjoyable. If you find yourself forcing bland foods down your throat in the name of weight loss you may want to try a different approach. I don’t believe in clean eating or eating a rigid diet, I believe in having food freedom. If I want to eat out I’ll eat out but I do try to make my meal as balanced as I can. It’s about doing what works best for you, eating what taste good for you,And living your best life.

02/06/2022

Culture is shared history, consisting of “the integrated pattern of thoughts,communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions associated, wholly or partially, with racial, ethnic, or linguistic groups, as well as with religious, spiritual, biological, geographical, or sociological characteristics.”

The societal groups can include
gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, health, occupation, and socioeconomic status.

We develop cultural characteristics and beliefs, including health beliefs,
through life experiences and education.

Food practices are learned mainly through transmission from parents to children. The structure and timing of meals, where food can be consumed (at table, with others, etc), and how to eat (eg, food manners, eating pleasure) are learned from social groups (eg, families, schools, and peers).

Cuisine (food combinations, flavors, and seasonings) are all influenced by culture.

08/01/2021

So blessed with the opportunity to be part of the mini-med school for kids.

Mini-Med School for Kids brings medicine, science, and the importance of health to children in an interactive and exciting way!

In 2008, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) expanded its Mini-Med School program to serve children.

In collaboration with the Salvation Army’s Franklin Square Boys and Girls Club summer camp, for five consecutive weeks, UMSOM faculty teach about health and encourage campers to consider careers in science and medicine.

Title: Healthy Eating & NutritionSpeaker: Erin Hager, PhDAssociate ProfessorDepartment of PediatricsThe University of Maryland School of Medicine serves as t...

04/22/2021

In our weight-obsessed culture, it’s common to disparage the fat in our bodies.

I’ve heard people say that I need to get rid of all my body fat. I need to have the “perfect body” with no body fat.

But body fat is critically important for health and longevity.

Body fats help to maintain healthy skin and hair.

To maintain the right body temperature, it is essential to have adequate body fat.

Body fats are the storehouses of energy in the body.

Body fats are necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of cells.

Body fats have a cushioning effect on organs and tissues.

Body fats act as a shock absorber for bones.

Normal body fat % for the average woman is 25 to 31%.

If your body is only between 5 to 9%, your body fat is dangerously low and may severely compromise your health.

“When you’re focused on significantly lowering body fat, whether through following an extreme exercise regime and/or restricting calories, the body perceives you to be in a stressed state and decides this is not the time to reproduce, which impacts your ability to menstruate” says Dr Meggie Smith, a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Southern California.