Balanced Diets, Energy Needs and Diet-Related Health
A balanced diet gives your body the right nutrients in the right amounts. Learn what a balanced diet is, how your energy needs are worked out, and the health problems a poor diet can cause.
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Eating the right balance
A **balanced diet** gives your body the nutrients it needs, in the right amounts. The UK guide to this is the Eatwell Guide. Get the balance or the amount of **energy** wrong, over time, and your health can suffer. This module covers what a balanced diet is, how energy needs are worked out, and the health problems a poor diet can cause.
Words to know
Four ideas run through healthy eating.
Match the health risk
- Obesity
- Iron deficiency anaemia
- Coronary heart disease
- Dental decay
- Eating far more energy than you use
- Too little iron in the diet
- Too much saturated fat and salt
- Too much sugar
Energy balance
What happens if you regularly eat more energy than your body uses?
- The extra energy is stored as fat and you gain weight
- You lose weight quickly
- Nothing changes at all
- You need less sleep
Too much or too little?
Energy balance works both ways, and both extremes cause problems.
Match the energy share
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrate
- Free sugars
- About 15% of energy
- 35% of energy or less
- About 50% of energy
- No more than 5% of energy
Learn the percentages
A balanced diet gets about 50% of its energy from carbohydrates, 35% or less from fat, and about 15% from protein, with no more than 5% from free sugars. These figures are worth learning exactly, as they are often tested.
Complete the summary
A _____ diet follows the Eatwell Guide. Your energy needs depend on your _____, the energy used at rest, plus your activity level. If you eat more energy than you use, it is stored as _____. A balanced diet gets about half its energy from _____ and no more than 5% from free _____.
Diet-related risks
Which of these are diet-related health risks? Choose all that apply.
- Obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
- Iron deficiency anaemia
- A broken arm from falling
- Catching a common cold
Spot the balanced diet
An interactive activity.
Plan a healthy diet
An interactive activity.
Why more energy?
Two people are the same age. One runs every day, the other sits down all day. Why does the runner need more energy?
- A higher physical activity level raises energy needs
- A lower rate of energy use at rest
- The runner eats less protein
- Activity has no effect on energy needs
Give the right advice
An interactive activity.
Your turn
An interactive activity.