Nutrition Word Problems

1. If a food has 200 calories and 7 grams of protein, and each gram of protein is 4 calories, what percent of the serving comes from protein?a) 10%b) 14%c) 20%d) 31%
2. If you have 10 ounces of meat, what percentage of the calories comes from fat if the meat is 90% lean?a)  10%b) 15%c) 20%d) 25%
3. If a food contains 30% of the daily value (DV) for calcium per serving, would that food be considered an “excellent” source of calcium?a) Yesb) No
4. You buy a bag of frozen vegetables at the store. This bag contains 12 ounces of vegetables. If you eat 2/3 of the bag, how many vegetable servings have you consumed?Hint: MyPlate defines a vegetable serving as 4 ounces of cooked vegetables.a) 1 servingb) 2 servingsc) 3 servingsd) 4 servings
5. How many calories did Sarah eat at the mall if she ate a box of candy (with 4 servings at 100 calories each), a container of Oreos with 50 calories per serving (the container has 10 servings total) and a bag of buttered popcorn that serves 4  (130 calories in each of the 4 servings)?a) 280 caloriesb) 560 caloriesc) 1120 caloriesd) 1420 calories

Answers

1. b) 7 x 4 = 28/200 = .14 x 100 = 14%
2. d)  90% lean = 1 oz. fat by weight, which is 28 grams/oz. x 9 calories = 252 calories from fat. The other 9 ounces are protein, which is 28 grams x 4 calories per gram = 1008 calories. 252/1008 = .252 x 100 = 25% fat
3. a) Yes.  A food containing 20% or more of the DV can be considered an “excellent” source.
4. b) 12 oz x 2/3 (.66) = ~8 oz consumed, or approximately 2 servings
5. d) (4 x 100) + (50 x 10) + (4 x 130) = 400 + 500 + 520 = 1420 calories

By Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LDPDF Handout: Nutrition Word Problems Handout