Through centuries food has been recognized as important for human being in
health and disease. Many health problems can be prevented with a healthy
diet. Nutrition is concerned primarily with the part played by
nutrients(or food factor) in body growth, development and maintenance.
The word Food Factor or Nutrients is used for specific dietary constituents
such as proteins, carbohydrates,fats,vitamins and minerals.
Dietetics is the practical application of the principles of the nutrition;
it includes the planning of meals for the well and the sick.
Relation of Nutrition to health:
- Growth and Development: Good nutrition is essential for the attainment of normal growth & development. Not only physical growth & development but also the intellectual development learning are affected by malnutrition. Malnutrition during pregnancy may affect the foetus, during early childhood -> delays physical and mental growth and in adult life -> creates imbalance in health.
- Specific Deficiency: Good nutrition is essential for the prevention of specific nutritional deficiency diseases. A poor diet may lead to certain diseases such as Kwashiorkor, marasmus, blindness, anemia, beriberi, goiter etc.
- Resistance to Infection: Good nutrition helps in resisting infection. Malnutrition predisposes to infection like tuberculosis. Infection, in turn, may aggravate malnutrition by affecting the food intake, absorption & metabolism
- Mortality and Morbidity: The indirect effects of malnutrition on the community are even more striking- a high general death rate, high infant mortality rate, high sickness rate and a lower expectation of life. Over nutrition, another form of malnutrition, is responsible for obesity, diabetes,hypertension, cardiovascular and renal disease, disorder of liver and gall bladder.
More
recent reports suggest that diet perhaps play an important role in certain
types of gastrointestinal cancers. It is now well accepted that diet and
certain diseases are interrelated.
No comments:
Post a Comment