Issue
The connection between diet and disease is an ongoing concern for the Australian population.
Modern lifestyles, work pressures and diet influence food choices, which have been detrimental to long-term health. How can young Australians decrease the incidence of diet-related diseases in their future and improve their long-term wellbeing?
Studies have shown that there is a direct link between long-term diet, environmental and lifestyle factors and chronic diseases. Epidemiological studies have found considerable health benefits of eating a “prudent diet” (i.e. one high in fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish and poultry) over a “Western diet” (i.e. one high in red meat, processed meat, refined grains, sweets and dessert,
French fries, and high-fat dairy products). Prudent dietary patterns are associated with lower rates of some cancers, diabetes and heart disease.
Australian dietary guidelines encourage eating patterns to improve our wellbeing and reduce the risk of diet-related disease such as heart disease or colon, breast or prostate cancer. The Australian dietary guidelines encourage consumption of foods containing essential nutrients (i.e. foods from core food groups) while limiting dietary sodium, fat and added sugar. However, as not all Australians follow these guidelines, the number of Australians people suffering from cancer and heart disease is still high.
Task
Write a persuasive essay to encourage young adults to follow a prudent diet and healthy lifestyle to reduce diet-related disease in Australia. Focus on one diet-related disease and use referenced evidence to support your arguments and conclusions.
Task guidelines
Research
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Investigate the issues and the relationship between diet, environmental and lifestyle factors and the incidence of one chronic disease such as heart disease or breast, prostate or colon cancer in
Australia.
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Develop a key question for research and create a set of sub-questions to assist in researching these key questions.

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Collect a range sources for your analysis and evaluation and to provide supporting evidence for your conclusions.
Analysis, evaluation
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Interpret, analyse and evaluate the evidence from your research.
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Develop other questions and understandings and need to do further research if needed.
Synthesise and draw a conclusion/s
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Make links between the chosen diet-related disease, long-term diet and lifestyle to possible actions to reduce the incidence of this disease.
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Synthesise your analysis and evaluation of the information into a unified conclusion.
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Use information from your research to justify conclusion/s.
Communicate
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Present conclusion/s in a persuasive essay.
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Use language that persuades the young-adult audience.
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Clearly support and justify the conclusions with evidence indicating where this evidence comes from through appropriate in-text referencing and a reference list.
Standard A Standard C
Knowledge and understanding
The student work has the following characteristics:
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description of a comprehensive range of significant facts, definitions and procedures relevant to Australian dietrelated diseases and current health issues key concepts
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thorough explanation and application of relevant health and nutrition key concepts to individuals’ wellbeing.
The student work has the following characteristics:
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description of facts, definitions and procedures that relate to Australian diet- related diseases and current health issues key concepts
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explanation and application of health and nutrition key concepts to individuals’ wellbeing.
Reasoning and communicating processes
The student work has the following characteristics:
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thorough analysis of significant, relevant information from a variety of sources
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synthesis and discerning and detailed evaluation of evidence, justification of valid and supported conclusions or solutions
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effective use and sustained control of communication using appropriate modes and language for the intended purpose and audience.
The student work has the following characteristics:
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analysis of relevant information from sources
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synthesis and evaluation of evidence, justified conclusions or solutions
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suitable communication, appropriate modes and language for the intended purpose and audience.
Note: Colour highlights have been used in the table to emphasise the qualities that discriminate between the standards.
Key: Quality words
Cognitive (thinking and doing) words
2 | Home Economics 2010 Sample assessment instrument and student responses

Comments
The student response demonstrates:
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description of a comprehensive range of significant facts, definitions and procedures relevant to key concepts
•
thorough explanation and application of relevant key concepts
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thorough analysis of significant, relevant information from a variety of sources
•
discerning and detailed evaluation of evidence
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description of a comprehensive range of significant facts, definitions and procedures relevant to key concepts
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thorough explanation and application of relevant key concepts
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justification of valid and supported conclusions.
Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in Australia, kills one
Australian every 10 minutes. It is a gradual clogging of the arteries that supply blood to the heart and can cause stroke, heart and blood vessel disease, which contributes to 33% of deaths in Australia in 2009. (Heart foundation, 2009). These statistics should encourage young Australians to take action to reduce the underlying risk factors of heart disease by maintaining a prudent diet and healthy lifestyle to promote long-term wellbeing.
One of the main risk factors for heart disease is the poor nutritional intake of Australians (AIHW, 2004). It is recommended for young adults to have a balanced diet before they reach their adulthood in order to reduce the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. This should be started by eating a variety of foods as stated in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
(Appendix 1), such as five or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day as they are rich in dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins, and are low in fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar. Cereals, breads, rice and pasta, etc. are also highly recommended as they are high in dietary fibre, iron and vitamin B.
Young adults should also consume protein for its growth maintenance and repair functions by including meat, poultry, seafood, lentils, nuts and eggs. Dairy products are also essential for strong bones and teeth.
However, low- or no-fat calcium products should be consumed instead of whole milk to reduce saturated fats (DGAC, 2010).
Water is extremely important for hydrating our bodies and is necessary for the transportation of nutrients throughout our body by our blood supply. Water should always be the most favourable option for a beverage due to its zero kilojoule content and hydration factors. Alcohol should be limited as heavy consumption is linked to risk factors for heart disease, hypertension, stroke and cardiomyopathy (NHMRC, 2009). All of these food recommendations are needed in order to a keep a healthy diet, balanced weight, to decrease high blood cholesterol, salt and reduce high blood pressure. These recommendations should reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The other prominent risk factors of cardiovascular disease are high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and being overweight or obese, therefore further investigation into diet and healthy lifestyle will help young adults make informed decisions. The overconsumption of saturated fats and trans fats increases your chance of cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is essential for life to manufacture cell walls and hormones. However, high blood cholesterol is a condition in which you have too much cholesterol in your blood from the high intake of saturated and trans fats. Foods that are high in saturated fats such as butter, cheese, whole milk and fatty meat such as bacon should be avoided. Fried food, commercial baked goods and processed foods should also be limited as they contain trans fats. As mentioned, it is best to consume plenty of fruit and vegetables as they do not contain dietary cholesterol and is also nutritious in Omega 3 and vitamins and minerals, which promote a healthy diet, as well as lean meat, eggs and low fat dairy products. This should also reduce the percentage of heart disease and high blood pressure in Australia.
High blood pressure is associated with the high intake of sodium, which results in the heart putting in extra effort of force of blood pushed against
Queensland Studies Authority November 2012 | 3

Comments
The student response demonstrates:
•
thorough analysis of significant, relevant information from a variety of sources
•
synthesis and discerning and detailed evaluation of evidence, justification of valid and supported conclusions
•
thorough analysis of significant, relevant information from a variety of sources
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synthesis and discerning and detailed evaluation of evidence, justification of valid and supported conclusions
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synthesis and discerning and detailed evaluation of evidence, justification of valid and supported conclusions
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effective use and sustained control of communication using appropriate modes and language for the intended purpose and audience. your artery walls, and raises risks of cardiovascular disease as it makes it harder for the heart to do its job and becomes thicker and stiffer. As the heart is not able to pump as well as it should, this could cause cardiovascular disease such as heart failure and could result in irregular heartbeats because of the extra fluid built up in the body. This is why the intake of sodium should be reduced and a healthy, nutritious diet should be implemented.
Diabetes is one of the biggest contributors to heart disease, as shown by the statistic: “About 65% of people with diabetes die as a result of heart disease or stroke.” (NDEP, 2007). This evidence shows that people with diabetes are at greater risk of heart disease as their blood glucose levels are higher and can cause damage to many parts of the body such as blood vessels that travel to the heart. Many people suffering from Type 2 diabetes also have high cholesterol, blood pressure and need physical activity. The risk factors and links between cardiovascular heart disease and rising incidence of Type 2 diabetes are clearly evident.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is also important for prevention of heart disease, the first and major issue is being physically active to improve long-term health. If daily physical exercise were implemented, then the issue would be affected positively in several ways, such as improving your long-term health by reducing the risk of heart attack, giving you more energy, helping to manage weight, lowering blood pressure as well as building stronger bones and muscles. Any type of exercise is helpful, even leisurely activities such as gardening and walking. The advice from the latest government program, called “Swap it”, (Swap it, don’t stop it, 2012) is for Australians to “swap sitting with moving” and stop watching sport with playing sport. The advice is based upon the idea that being physically active will help maintain weight and improve health. All of these factors would effectively decrease plaque build-up in arteries, and would therefore reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Physical activity reduces weight by burning excess kilojoules during exercise, which will lessen the risks of high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity and, most significantly, cardiovascular disease.
Other lifestyle options to alter is managing stress and depression as poorly controlled mental health issues such as stress, anger and depression can lead to heart attacks and strokes as they temporarily raise blood pressure and make the heart beat faster, which then causes blood vessels to narrow. Therefore, managing these issues by relaxing, exercising, managing time and setting goals is great to relieve mental health concerns.
It would be reasonable to conclude that heart disease is a major issue for
Australians, especially young adults, as they have time to prevent incidence of the disease by developing strategies such as improving diet by eating a variety of recommended and nutritious foods, changing lifestyle options by increasing physical exercise, and taking care of factors that lead to heart disease such as excess consumption of saturated fats leading to high blood cholesterol and risk factors linked to Type 2 diabetes. These points are well supported by evidence from the Heart
Foundation, and the available data from the National Health and Medical
Research Council, which reveals that 1.4 million Australians are estimated to have a disability associated with cardiovascular conditions (NHMRC,
2011). It may take effort at the start to prevent the risk factors for heart disease, but in the long term it will be part of your everyday lifestyle and benefits will pay off as you feel good about yourself and most importantly reduce your chances of having cardiovascular disease.
4 | Home Economics 2010 Sample assessment instrument and student responses

Comments
The student response demonstrates information from a variety of sources
Bibliography
Websites
The Weight Watchers Research Dept. (2010). Health benefits of dairy products
Retrieved from: http://www.weightwatchers.com.au/utiliartJindex_art.aspx?tabnum=1
&artJd=31311&sc=805
Swap it, don't stop it. N.D Retrieved from: http://swapit.gov.au/ways-toswap
Heart disease (2010) Retrieved from: http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/fact+sheets/heartJheart+disease,9007?g
clid=CMfw6MbBjbACFUlkpQodmU-Cpw
Lavelle, P (2003) Heart disease Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/health/librarylstories/2003/02/27/1831271.htm
Articles
Ball, Kylie (2010, July). Obesity In Different Socioeconomic Groups
Nutridate, 21 (2), 2~8.
Works cited
Heart foundation (2009), Cardiovascular conditions Retrieved from: http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/your-heartJcardiovascularconditions/Pages/heartfailure.aspx
NHMRC (2011), Cardiovascular disease Retrieved from: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/grants/research-funding-statistics-anddata/cardiovasculardisease
Madden. R (2005). Living Dangerously Retrieved from: http://www.aihw.gov.auNVorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=6442453382
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Comments
The student response demonstrates:
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suitable communication, appropriate modes and language for the intended purpose and audience
•
analysis of relevant information from sources
Contemporary issues related to food, nutrition and health: prostate cancer
Living in a modern society with such things as the internet and television, we are commonly bombarded with a plethora of information regarding the many diseases and health problems that we as human beings are prone to develop. With these many sources of information we are given multiple opinions, warnings, guidelines and suggestions as how to ward off these illnesses that are detrimental to our health. The result of all this information generally causes confusion as to what the illness is, how it develops and the best ways to help prevent it from doing so in the first place. One illness that has much confusion surrounding it is the cancer of the prostate, considering it is quite an intimate topic. Men often avoid any discussion about it, leaving them ill-equipped to respond to any factors that may prove to be beneficial in lowering the chance of forming cancer of the prostate.
Prostate cancer is an insidious disease that causes an abnormal growth of cells in the prostate, which develops into a tumour; the prostate is a gland surrounding the neck of the bladder in males. Each year close to
3300 men die of prostate cancer and around 20 000 new cases are diagnosed, making it the most common cancer in Australian men
(prostate cancer foundation of Australia, 2012). Although it is such a prevalent disease, the development frequently goes unnoticed until the cancer has grown to a dangerous extent. There are very few symptoms in the early stages of its development. However, there are signs that indicate the possibility of cancer. These include abdominal discomfort, hesitancy in the excretion of urine and sudden urgency to urinate multiple times during sleep. If these symptoms are evident then a test should be initiated to try and diagnose any cancer at the earliest possible stage.
This disease is caused by rapid duplications of cells within the prostate, when cells rapidly duplicate they have a higher chance to become incomplete or deformed. These “broken” cells are what develop into the adenocarcinomas, cancer of the epithelium. It is commonly found that these abnormal cell duplications are hereditary. However, prostate cancer can also develop from multiple lifestyle factors that affect the severity of these duplications such as diet, obesity and age
( www.cancer.org
).
Although diet is not the main cause of prostate cancer it does play an imperative role in the health and function of the prostate gland. The various nutrients that are absorbed through the consumption and digestion of foods are used by the body to facilitate the growth and maintenance of not just the prostate gland but the body on a whole. In today’s modern society, the general population is ill-equipped and minimally educated in the skill of providing their body with a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet. This is due to various factors such as work, the economy, social commitments and lack of education.
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description of facts and definitions that relate to key concepts.
Statistics show that Australia has the highest incident and mortality rates for prostate cancer compared to underdeveloped countries such as eastern
Asia and northern Africa. (Globocan cancer fact sheet, 2008).
Being less developed often means that the people must support themselves by using the land to its maximum potential which results in them eating a “prudent diet” (Appendix 1). A prudent diet most commonly consists of fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish and poultry, hence there is significantly lower amounts of processed and packaged foods.
6 | Home Economics 2010 Sample assessment instrument and student responses

Comments
The student response demonstrates:
•
analysis of relevant information from sources
•
justified conclusions
•
explanation and application of key concepts
•
synthesis and evaluation of evidence, justified conclusions
•
explanation of a key concept
On the other hand these highly processed foods are extremely common in the “western diet”, as this diet contains high quantities of red meat, processed meat, refined grains, sweets and dessert, French fries and high-fat dairy products. This “western diet” is almost a staple for
Australians. It has been proven that a high intake of red and processed meats increases the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer and also the mortality rate if the disease is developed. The information above presents the facts that a healthy diet can successfully reduce not only the risk of developing prostate cancer but many other diseases and illnesses. The Australian community must make proactive decisions regarding their diet choices to help ensure a healthy life.
Another factor that increases the chances of developing an aggressive form of prostate cancer is obesity. Body fat is known to synthesize hormones such as estrogen which raise the risks of cancerous cells developing. In saying this Australia is ranked as one of the most obese countries in the world with more than 17 million people classed as overweight or obese. In addition to high obesity rates Australia also has one of the highest rates of both incidents and mortalities of prostate cancer compared to the significantly lower rates in the more underdeveloped countries.
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synthesis and evaluation of evidence, justified conclusions
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synthesis and evaluation of evidence, justified conclusions
Obesity is easily controlled with a healthy diet and regular exercise regime, in the past few years there has been a lot of media coverage on the growing pandemic of obesity and how to tackle it yet there is very little mention of prostate cancer being directly linked with it. This link needs to be more commonly expressed throughout the many mediums of communication and advertising that we as a modern society have (www.sciencedaily.com). Advertising this would give men a bigger motivation to keep their body weight in check, essentially helping Australia to become a healthier nation.
Considering all the facts and evidence presented it is apparent that the male population of Australia needs to take a step back and view their dietary patterns and exercise regimes with a critical attitude. If this problem is not addressed the severity of it will only continue to increase over time. Not only does the general population have to take proactive measures but also the government and medical organizations of high stature. This will boost the population’s confidence and acceptance of the intimate disease that prostate cancer is. Where there are many people focusing on proving a point or trying to pass on knowledge it is a great deal more effective than individuals. Prostate cancer has the ability to prematurely take life in an excruciating and unmerited manner.
When was the last time you took a step back and noted how your diet is impacting your health?
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suitable communication, appropriate modes and language for the intended purpose and audience (this has occurred throughout the essay)
Reference list
What causes prostate cancer. (15/5/12). Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/OverviewGuide/prostatecancer-overview-what-causes
•
information from sources.
Globocan cancer fact sheet. (16/5/12). Retrieved from http://globocan.iarc.fr/factsheets/cancers/prostate.asp
Obesity is a risk factor for aggressive prostate cancer. (18/5/12).
Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050523091709.htm
Prostate cancer foundation of Australia. (12/5/12). Retrieved from http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/pages/Prostate-Cancer-
Statistics.html
Food and Nutrition. (16/5/12). Retrieved from http://www.health.qld.gov.au/healthieryou/food/default.asp
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8 | Home Economics 2010 Sample assessment instrument and student responses