Isabelle Lane
Unit 19 - Nutritional Health
P1 - Explain how the concepts of nutritional health contribute to health and wellbeing
Nutritional health
Nutritional health is maintaining a healthy body weight through eating a variety of foods in the
correct proportions. Nutritional health is also about having an awareness of food groups and
how specific foods have more nutritional value than others. By having this knowledge, having a
balanced diet is made easier and healthier and overall promotes good health for an individual.
Healthy eating
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. Having a healthy diet provides
the body with essential nutrition i.e. fluid, macronutrients such as, protein, micro nutrients such
as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. It is extremely important for all individuals to
ensure that they are maintaining a well balanced diet. This is because we all need the correct
energy to be able to keep active throughout the day, and the nutrients individual’s consume are
needed for growth and repair, helping you to stay strong and healthy and prevent diet related
illness such as, some cancers. Deficiencies in some key nutrients such as; vitamin A, B, C and
E, and zinc, iron and selenium can weaken parts of an individual’s immune system. One way in
which individuals can monitor their diet is by following The Eatwell Guide and eatwell plate.
The Eatwell Guide
The Eatwell Guide shows an individual how much of what they’re eating overall from each food
group and puts it to scale with the recommended portion sizes to ensure that they are able to
achieve a healthy and balanced diet. An individual does not need to achieve this balance with
every meal they have, as long as they try to get the balance right over a day or even a week.
The eatwell plate - The Eatwell plate shows the 5 food
groups that make up a healthy diet. This means eating
more starchy foods such as bread, potatoes, pasta and
rice and more fruit and vegetables. Dairy products and
meat dishes should be eaten in smaller amounts with the
foods rich in fat and sugar being kept as treats. The
portion sizes we give are averages for healthy adults,
based on a daily calorie need of 2000kcal. The eatwell
guide was set out to make it simple for all individuals to
follow and understand. It was even set out visually, making it easier for children to be able to
process and understand. The main purpose of the eatwell guide is to support individuals in
achieving the correct balance of foods that they are recommended to consume.
Fruit & vegetables - Fruits and vegetables contain plenty of minerals,
vitamins and fibre, which make them healthy foods. All individuals are
recommended to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a
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day, most individuals however still are not consuming enough fruit and vegetables. They should
make up over a third of the food that individual’s eat each day. Both children and adults should
aim to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day. Fruit and vegetables
are able to be available in many different forms including; fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced.
This being said fruit juices and smoothies should be limited to no more than a combined total of
150 ml a day due to the sugar content. Fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamins,
minerals and fibre.
Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta & other starchy carbohydrates - Starchy
food should make up just over a third of the food individual’s are eating.
higher fibre wholegrain varieties, such as wholewheat pasta and brown rice,
or simply leave skins on potatoes. As well as starch, they contain fibre,
calcium, iron and B vitamins. There are also higher fibre versions of white
bread and pasta. Starchy foods are a good source of energy and the main
source of a range of nutrients in our diet. Starchy foods are our main source
of carbohydrate and play an important role in a healthy diet. Some
individuals believe that starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram they
contain fewer than half the calories of fat. It is recommended that individuals
consume 3-4 portions of starchy foods per day.
Dairy & Dairy alternatives - Dairy products such as; milk, cheese,
yoghurt and fromage frais are all good sources of protein and contain
several vitamins, and they're also an important source of calcium, which
helps keep individuals' bones of all ages strong and healthy.
Unsweetened calcium-fortified dairy alternatives like soya milks, soya
yoghurts and soya cheeses also count as part of this food group. These
can make good alternatives to dairy products. It is recommended that
individuals consume 2-3 portions of dairy/dairy alternatives each day.
Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat & other proteins - These foods are
good sources and one of the main sources of protein, vitamins and
minerals. Pulses, such as beans, peas and lentils, are good alternatives to
meat because they're lower in fat and higher in fibre and protein, too.
Individuals should be choosing to incorporate lean cuts of meat and
mince, and try to eat less red and processed meats like bacon, ham and
sausages. An individual should aim for at least 2 portions of fish to be in
their diet every week, 1 of which should be oily, such as salmon or
mackerel. It is recommended that individual’s aim to consume 2-3 portions
of protein in their diet each day.
Oils, spreads, fats & sugars - Some fats which are in an individual’s diet
are essential, but they should still be thinking about the types of fat that
they are adding to their food, because in general most individuals are
currently consuming too much saturated fat in their diets. Unsaturated oils
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such as rapeseed, olive or sunflower oils are healthier alternatives than
saturated fats like butter and lard. Swapping butter for lower fat unsaturated fat
spreads is a way to reduce your saturated fat intake.
This includes food and drinks high in fat and sugar such as cakes, biscuits,
chocolate, sweets, puddings, pastries, ice cream, jam, honey, crisps, sauces, butter, cream and
mayonnaise. These foods are not needed in an individual’s diet so should be consumed
occasionally and in small amounts.
Nutrition
It is important that individuals are making sure that they are consuming nutrients in their diets.
This is to ensure that they are not consuming too much or too little food. If an individual isn’t
getting the right amount of nutrients in their diet, they will become malnourished. Signs and
symptoms of malnutrition include; unintentional weight loss, losing 5% to 10% or more of weight
over 3-6 months is one of the main signs of malnutrition a low body weight – people with a body
mass index (BMI) under a certain percentile, are also at a risk of being malnourished. When
being malnourished an individual may have a lack of interest in eating and drinking and may
potentially be feeling tired all the time or feeling weak. When an individual is malnourished, it is
likely that they would have a lower immune system increasing the chance of the individual
getting ill often and taking a long time to recover. In children, a malnourished child may not be
growing or not putting on weight at the expected rate as the rest of the children in their age
group, however this isn’t always the case.
Similarly, an individual may have an under nutritional diet, this means that their diet lacks proper
nutrition caused by not having enough food or not eating enough food containing substances
necessary for growth and health. This insufficient intake of energy and nutrients can lead to
individuals being left underweight, with their bones often protruding out of their skin, their skin
may sometimes be dry and inelastic, and their hair might be very dry and fall out easily. Doctors
are usually able to diagnose undernutrition based on the individual’s physical appearance,
height and weight, and situation (including information about diet and weight loss).
Obesity is where an individual is very overweight. It can put an individual at risk of suffering
serious health problems. Obesity affects children as well as adults. Many factors can contribute
to excess weight gain including an individual’s eating patterns, physical activity levels, and sleep
routines. Obesity increases the risk for individuals of several life changing diseases, including
diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. This is similar to being overweight as it is also
referring to an individual’s body weight that is greater than what is considered to be normal or
healthy for a certain height, age and gender. Being overweight is generally due to extra body fat.
However this is not always the case, being overweight may also be due to an individual having
extra muscle, bone, or water. It is crucial that all individuals are trying to take into account
their BMI. The body mass index (BMI) is a measure that uses an individual’s height and
weight to work out if their weight is healthy. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good
calculation of an individual's risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. The
higher an individual's BMI is, the higher their risk for certain diseases such as heart
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disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and
certain cancers.
Food preparation
Studies have shown that food preparation methods can affect nutritional value of foods. One
example of this could be that when vegetables are being served and eaten raw, they have the
maximum amount of nutrients within them, because they are fresh. However, if the vegetables
were to be boiled they would then lose some of their nutritional value. This happens because
many healthy nutrient rich foods are what are known as water soluble, so the nutrients within
the food get released into the water that it is boiled in. Certain cooking methods can cause less
damage to the food in comparison to others i.e. frying. Frying is done quickly, meaning that the
food wouldn’t be able to lose too much nutritional value whilst being cooked; however this
method of cooking does add calories to an individual's meal, as the food being fried is usually
being done so in fats such as sunflower oil.
Similarly, food processing methods also have an impact on the nutritional value of foods.
Studies within recent years have shown that processed foods are having higher and more
damaging effects on an individuals health, because of the high amounts of fat and lack of
nutrients that the foods are containing. Foods like this often include large amounts of sugar, fats
and sodium and eating an excessive amount of these can have an extremely negative impact
on an individuals health such as obesity and heart disease etc. Some food processing examples
are; freezing, canning, baking and drying. And some processed foods include cereals, tinned
vegetables, bread, savoury snacks (crisps), pies and pasties, microwave meals, meat products
such as ham, bacon, salami’s, cakes, biscuits, and drinks such as sugary soft drinks and milk.
Some of the different ways of processing foods can have a range of positive and negative
effects on the food after it has been processed: Freezing foods keeps the majority of vitamins
and minerals retained however some frozen ready meals have high amounts of sugar and salt.
The method of freezing foods is an effective way to save money, as it ensures that foods last
longer and it is also a much more affordable alternative to fresh foods. For example, a bag of
frozen strawberries may be cheaper than buying fresh strawberries. This being said, some
frozen foods may have added preservatives such as sodium and other artificial preservatives in
them in order to keep the food fresh and edible. This can have an impact on an individual's
nutritional health. Similarly, freezing foods doesn’t ensure that all the nutrients originally in the
food are still in place for example, because frozen foods are processed before freezing, this
results in them unfortunately losing some vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin B.
Another method of preserving and processing food is curing, curing increases the foods shelf
life without needing to be kept refrigerated. The food however has a high amount of sodium
which can have a negative impact on an individuals health. An advantage of curing foods is that
it prevents microbial growth on the food and foods do not lose many nutrients in the process of
curing. On the other hand, disadvantages are that not all individuals can eat cured foods as
some individuals may be allergic to the many added chemical preservatives.
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