Summary of nutrition

Nutrient Use in the body Good sources

Cereals, bread, pasta, rice

Carbohydrate To provide energy
and potatoes

Fish, meat, eggs, beans,

Protein For growth and repair
pulses and dairy products

To provide energy. Also to store energy

Lipids (fats and
in the body and insulate it against the Butter, oil and nuts
oils)
cold.

Needed in small amounts to maintain Salt, milk (for calcium) and

Minerals
health liver (for iron)

Needed in small amounts to maintain

Vitamins Fruit, vegetables, dairy foods
health

To provide roughage to help to keep the

Dietary fibre Vegetables, bran
food moving through the gut

Water Needed for cells and body fluids Water, fruit juice, milk

Energy needs

Each person needs a different amount of energy depending on factors such as:

 gender (male or female)

 age
 amount of daily activity

If you look on the side of food packets you will see the food's energy content. This is usually
measured in kilojoules, kJ. For example, a one-year-old baby needs 3850 kJ each day to continue to
grow, whereas an adult Olympic swimmer in training needs 15,600 kJ each day. Someone who sits at
a desk all day will need less food than their twin who climbs ladders all day to wash windows. The
average man needs about 10,470 kJ per day, and the average woman needs about 8370 kJ per day.

Deficiencies in nutrition (Not enough nutrition)

A balanced diet is one that contains the correct amounts of all the necessary nutrients needed for
healthy growth and activity. An imbalanced or poor diet can contain too much or too little of a
particular nutrient. If you have too little of a particular nutrient, we say that you have a deficiency in
that nutrient. For example, fibre is needed to keep food moving through the intestines easily, and
people who have a fibre deficiency in their diet may get constipation.
 iron deficiency can cause anaemia, where there are too few red blood cells
 iodine deficiency can cause a swelling in the neck called goitre
 vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness
 vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, which makes the gums bleed
 vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which makes the legs bow outwards in
growing children