Diet, drugs and health - Some effects of a poor diet
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.
Mineral deficiencies
People with iron deficiency may get anaemia and have too few red blood cells. People with iodine deficiency may get a swelling in the neck called a goitre (pronounced "goy-ter").
Vitamin deficiencies
Although we only need small amounts of the different vitamins in our diet, we become ill if we don't get enough. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness. Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, which makes the gums bleed, and vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which makes the legs bow outwards in growing children.
Too thin, too fat
Food is a store of chemical energy. If you look on the side of food packets you will see the food's energy content. This is usually measured in kilojoules, kJ. If we eat too little food, we will use up our store of fat and become too thin. If we eat too much food, especially foods rich in sugar and fat, we will increase our store of fat and become too fat.
It is important to balance the amount of food we eat with who we are and what we do. The amount of energy we need from our food depends on our age, our height and how much exercise we get.
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.
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