About Health
ABOUT HEALTH
Questions and Answers
1. Why is nutrition important for humans and animals?
Answer: Nutrition is important for energy, growth, repair, and development.
2. What happens when the body lacks the correct nutrients?
Answer: Life processes do not occur properly, and disease or death can result.
3. What are the main types of nutrients in food?
Answer: Carbohydrates, lipids (fats and oils), proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre, and water.
4. What is a balanced diet?
Answer: A diet with the correct amounts of each food type.
5. What are the basic food groups for a balanced diet?
Answer: Dairy products, meat and protein, fruits and vegetables, fats and oils, and carbohydrates.
6. How many servings of carbohydrates are recommended per day?
Answer: 6-8 servings per day.
7. What determines the amount of energy and protein needed?
Answer: Level of physical activity and stage of development.
8. What is the importance of water in a balanced diet?
Answer: Water keeps our inside parts moist, cools our bodies, and moves nutrients around our bodies.
9. What is the recommended daily water intake for men and women?
Answer: Men: 3 litres, Women: 2.2 litres.
10. How can you check if you are drinking enough water?
Answer: Check the colour of your urine. If it's pale yellow to almost clear, your water intake is adequate.
11. What is fibre also known as?
Answer: Roughage.
12. What is the main function of fibre in the body?
Answer: To keep the digestive system healthy and functioning properly.
13. What does fibre help with in the body?
Answer: Fibre helps with and speeds up the excretion of waste and toxins from the body.
14. What are some good sources of fibre?
Answer: Bran, lentils, barley, dried fruit, brown rice, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grain cereals, fresh fruit, and wholemeal flour and breads.
15. What are the main nutrients needed by humans?
Answer: Carbohydrates, lipids (fats and oils), proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
16. What are the sources of carbohydrates in the diet?
Answer: Bread, pasta, rice, maize, potatoes, wheat, barley, rye, and millet.
17. What are the sources of lipids (fats and oils) in the diet?
Answer: Vegetable oils, soya beans, oily fish, and other sources.
18. What is the biological importance of carbohydrates?
Answer: Main energy source for cellular respiration, source of reserve energy, and structural component of cells.
19. What is the biological importance of lipids (fats and oils)?
Answer: Source of energy, storage of excess energy, insulation, structural component of cell membranes, and source of water.
20. What is the biological importance of proteins?
Answer: Reserve source of energy, structural part of protoplasm, cell membranes, chromosomes, and other cell parts, and helps the immune system work properly.
21. What are the sources of vitamins in the diet?
Answer: Cod liver oil, rice, meat, eggs, unrefined vegetable oils, green leafy vegetables, dairy products, grains, yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and avocados.
22. What are the functions of vitamins in the body?
Answer: Help regulate metabolism, tissue growth and cell differentiation, act as anti-oxidants, and help enzymes to function properly.
23. What is the importance of anti-oxidants in the body?
Answer: Anti-oxidants increase the body's ability to fight infection and disease.
24. What are some food sources of vitamins and minerals?
Answer: Fruits, vegetables, sweet potatoes, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains.
25. What is the role of electrolytes in the body?
Answer: Electrolytes carry an electric charge and are constituents of the blood and body fluids.
26. What are the seven groups of nutrients or substances needed for nutrition in humans?
Answer: Carbohydrates, lipids (fats and oils), proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre, and water.
27. What are four examples of proteins?
Answer: Meat, poultry, fish, and eggs.
28. What are four examples of carbohydrates?
Answer: Bread, pasta, rice, and maize.
29. What are four examples of lipids?
Answer: Vegetable oils, soya beans, oily fish, and avocado.
30. What are four examples of vitamins?
Answer: Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E.
31. What are four examples of minerals?
Answer: Calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium.
32. What are four examples of sources of fibre?
Answer: Bran, lentils, barley, and brown rice.
33. What are the groups into which kinds of food are divided when working out a balanced diet?
Answer: Dairy products, meat and protein, fruits and vegetables, fats and oils, and carbohydrates.
34. Why is breastfeeding important for babies?
Answer: Breastfeeding provides milk that contains all the nutrients the baby needs, and helps create a strong bond between a mother and her child.
35. What are the nutritional needs of babies in the first 12 months of life?
Answer: 3 times more energy, 3 times more protein, 3 times more B vitamins, and 4 times more vitamins A, C and D, and calcium and iron than an adult.
36. What happens when a baby is 4-6 months old?
Answer: The baby is introduced to solid foods in addition to breast milk.
37. What is weaning?
Answer: Weaning is the process of slowly taking a baby or child off breast milk and giving them other liquids and solid foods.
38. What types of food are suitable for weaning babies?
Answer: Soft foods such as porridge (nshima), mashed food (e.g. bananas, vegetables, and soft meat), and protein and nutrient-rich foods like groundnuts and soya beans.
39. Why do young children need to be fed several times a day?
Answer: Young children grow quickly and are active, so they need food that provides a lot of energy, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre.
40. What type of food do young, active, growing children need?
Answer: Food that provides a lot of energy, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre, such as fruit, vegetables, proteins, and healthy meals.
41. Why is the correct diet important for a sick person?
Answer: A sick person requires more vitamins, proteins, and carbohydrates to repair the body, provide energy, and support growth.
42. What happens if a sick person does not eat enough food?
Answer: Growth may slow down, and the person may lose weight, known as wasting.
43. What does a pregnant woman need to eat for her own health and the health of the foetus?
Answer: Food that contains all the correct nutrients, including energy, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
44. Why is it important for a pregnant woman to eat a healthy diet?
Answer: The developing foetus absorbs essential nutrients from the mother's blood, and a lack of nutrients can affect the mother's health.
45. How should a pregnant woman's diet differ from a normal balanced diet?
Answer: The proportions of energy and some nutrients required may change, but the woman should not eat enough food for two people.
46. How much should a pregnant woman's total energy intake increase?
Answer: By about 20%.
47. Why is it important for a pregnant woman to eat healthy food?
Answer: To provide the maximum amount of nutrients for herself and the developing foetus.
48. What nutrients should a pregnant woman increase in her diet?
Answer: Protein, carbohydrates, minerals (especially iron, calcium), and vitamins (especially folic acid, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids).
49. Why is extra iron important for a pregnant woman?
Answer: To prevent anaemia in the mother and ensure the foetus has enough red blood cells.
50. Why is calcium important for a pregnant woman?
Answer: To prevent osteoporosis in the mother and ensure the foetus has enough calcium for healthy bone and teeth development.
51. What should a pregnant woman avoid eating or consuming?
Answer: Junk food, alcohol, and nicotine, as they have negative effects on the mother's and foetus's health.
52. What is a suggested daily meal plan for a pregnant woman?
Answer: A balanced diet that includes porridge, skim milk, fruit, wholewheat bread, protein sources (chicken, fish, cheese), salads, and healthy snacks (fruit, peanuts).
53. What are the recommended food groups and servings for a non-pregnant woman?
Answer: Breads and grains (6-8), dairy (2-3), protein (2-3), fruit (2), vegetables (3), and fats and sweets (eat sparingly).
54. What are the recommended food groups and servings for a pregnant woman?
Answer: Breads and grains (8-11), dairy (3), protein (3), fruit (4 or more), vegetables (5 or more), and fats and sweets (eat sparingly).
55. Why do pregnant women need more servings of fruit and vegetables?
Answer: To provide essential nutrients, fibre, and energy for the mother and the developing foetus.
56. What is lactating?
Answer: Producing milk.
57. Why does a lactating mother need extra energy and nutrients?
Answer: To produce nutrient-rich milk for the baby.
58. What are the nutritional needs of a breastfeeding mother?
Answer: 20% increase in protein and iron, 25% increase in energy, 25% increase in B vitamins, 100% increase in vitamins A and C, and 150% increase in calcium.
59. Why do workers performing manual labour need more energy?
Answer: Because they use a lot of muscle activity, such as pulling, lifting, carrying, and digging.
60. What type of diet do farm workers and construction workers need?
Answer: A balanced diet with more energy-giving foods (carbohydrates) such as nshima, rice, potatoes, and cassava.
Activity 2 Questions
1. Why do the following people need more proteins and carbohydrates?
Answer: (a) Lactating woman: to produce milk, (b) Growing baby: for growth and development, (c) Sick child: to recover from illness.
2. How should a pregnant woman's diet differ from someone who is not pregnant?
Answer: Increased protein, iron, energy, B vitamins, vitamins A and C, and calcium.
61. What are nutritional diseases?
Answer: Diseases in humans caused by a lack of necessary nutrients in the diet.
62. What is malnutrition?
Answer: A lack of proper nutrition as a result of not eating a balanced diet.
63. What are the two main forms of malnutrition?
Answer: Under-nutrition (too few nutrients) and over-nutrition (too many nutrients).
64. What are the symptoms of extreme under-nutrition (starvation)?
Answer: Exhaustion caused by lack of food.
65. What is over-nutrition?
Answer: A type of malnutrition caused by consuming too many nutrients, leading to unhealthy diets high in energy, fats, and refined carbohydrates.
66. What are the results of under-nutrition?
Answer: Stunting (slowed-down growth), wasting, and deficiencies of essential vitamins and minerals.
67. Why are proteins important in the diet?
Answer: Proteins are important for growth and development, and a lack of proteins can lead to diseases such as kwashiorkor.
68. What is kwashiorkor?
Answer: A disease caused by a lack of proteins in the diet, characterized by symptoms such as loss of teeth, swollen ankles and feet, loss of skin color, and dermatitis.
69. How can kwashiorkor be treated?
Answer: By adding protein to the diet gradually over time.
70. What is marasmus?
Answer: A disease caused by a severe shortage of nearly all nutrients, especially protein and carbohydrates.
71. What are the symptoms of marasmus?
Answer: General tissue and muscle wasting, swollen stomach, dry skin, loose skin folds, drastic loss of body fat, restlessness, irritability, and extreme hunger.
72. Why is it important to have a balanced diet that includes carbohydrates?
Answer: Carbohydrates provide energy for the body, and a lack of carbohydrates can lead to diseases such as marasmus.
73. What is rickets?
Answer: A common childhood disease caused by a lack of vitamin D, phosphorus, or calcium, leading to softening of the bones.
74. What are the symptoms of rickets?
Answer: Aching bones, dental problems, muscle weakness, uncontrolled muscle spasms, and skeletal deformity.
75. What are the long-term consequences of rickets?
Answer: Permanent bends or disfigurement of the long bones, curved back, deformed chest, and changes in the skull.
76. What is osteomalacia?
Answer: A similar condition to rickets that occurs in adults, caused by a lack of vitamin D and calcium.
77. What is scurvy?
Answer: A disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, characterized by general symptoms of illness, tiredness, and spots on the skin.
78. Who is most likely to suffer from scurvy?
Answer: Infants, elderly people, and people in developing countries.
79. Why do teenagers need extra calcium and iron during adolescence?
Answer: To support growth and development.
80. What is anaemia?
Answer: A condition caused by an iron deficiency, leading to a lack of healthy red blood cells.
81. What are the causes of anaemia?
Answer: Little iron in the diet, inability to absorb iron, and iron loss due to internal bleeding.
82. What is the most important cause of anaemia in Third World children?
Answer: Parasitic worms that cause intestinal bleeding.
83. What are the symptoms of anaemia?
Answer: Pale yellow skin, tiredness, light-headedness, weakness, constipation, ringing in the ears, mouth ulcers, hair loss, fainting, depression, breathlessness, and missed menstrual cycle.
84. Why is anaemia more common in women than men?
Answer: Due to iron loss during menstruation and pregnancy.
CLINIC CARD
85. What is the purpose of a children's clinic card?
Answer: To monitor the growth and development of children, provide nutritional advice to parents and carers, and provide supplementary feeding for under-nourished children.
86. What information does a children's clinic card provide?
Answer: Child's name, date of birth, family information, immunisation programme, and growth monitoring data (mass/age graph).
87. Why is it important to weigh children regularly and record their mass on a mass/age graph?
Answer: To check whether the child is growing healthily and to identify any potential health problems early.
88. What does it mean if the line on the mass/age graph rises above the upper limit?
Answer: It may mean that the child is overfeeding or being fed the wrong diet.
89. What does it mean if the line on the mass/age graph falls below the lower safe limit?
Answer: It may mean that the child is underfed or suffering from an illness.
90. What is the importance of nutrition in maintaining good health?
Answer: Nutrition provides the body with the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to function properly and maintain good health.
91. How can nutritional deficiency diseases be prevented?
Answer: By eating a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods from all food groups.
92. What role do healthcare providers play in promoting good nutrition?
Answer: Healthcare providers play a crucial role in promoting good nutrition by providing nutritional advice, monitoring growth and development, and identifying potential health problems early.
93. How can individuals make informed choices about their diet?
Answer: By seeking advice from healthcare providers, reading food labels, and learning about the nutritional value of different foods.
94. What are the long-term benefits of maintaining good nutrition?
Answer: Maintaining good nutrition can help prevent chronic diseases, promote healthy growth and development, and improve overall quality of life.
Comments
Post a Comment