7.

1: Diet

Activity B7.1 Diet

Learning objectives
 Describe what is meant by a balanced diet and how it varies in different groups of people.
 Describe the sources and functions of nutrients in human nutrition.
 Extended Describe the deficiency symptoms for some nutrients in the human diet.
 Describe some effects of malnutrition in humans.
 Extended Explain the causes and effects of protein malnutrition.

Learning outcomes
 Know that the main components of a healthy human diet are: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins
(e.g. C and D), minerals (e.g. calcium and iron), water and dietary fibre.
 Know that a balanced diet includes all the components needed for health in the right proportions.
 Know that the diet provides energy as well as nutrients, and different groups of people have different
requirements.
 Extended Explain the causes and effects of some dietary deficiencies.

Common misconceptions
It is important that students understand that dietary advice is based on an idea of the ‘average’ person.
Such advice is useful in guiding us towards healthy ideals, but everyone is different and has different
needs. It is important to distinguish between the needs of the ‘average’ population and the needs of the
individual.
Note that the term malnutrition is most commonly associated with deficiency diseases and starvation,
when people get insufficient food to eat. However, it refers to any situation where the diet is not
appropriate for health, and so relates to eating too much of some foods as well as too little.

Resources
Student Book pages 123–128
Files on CD-ROM: Worksheet B7.1a_Government_health_advice; Worksheet
B7.1b_The_energy_in_foods; B7.1b_Tech_notes; Worksheet B7.1c_Variation_in_dietary_needs
Resources for class practical (see Technician’s notes, following)

Approach
1. Introduction
Give students a few minutes to write a definition of the term balanced diet. Ask them to compare their
definition with that of a neighbour and to work together to discuss what this means. Then ask pairs to
work together to improve their definitions.
Finally, take examples from around the class and discuss with students any differences between what
they think it means. It is not essential to reach a consensus on what the term means. However, this
should raise some of students’ misconceptions on the topic – make sure that these are tackled through
this activity.
 7.1: Diet

Cambridge IGCSE Biology Teacher Pack © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

2. Food sources
Either provide images of plates of food, or ask students to research some. They should then annotate
the images to show which foods are good sources of the main nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins,
vitamins C and D, calcium and iron, fibre and water). This could be extended with research on which
foods are the best sources of these nutrients.
Students should also add annotations that identify the functions of these nutrients in the body. Pages
123–124 in the Student Book could be used to help them do this.
3. A healthy diet or malnutrition?
This part of the activity provides opportunities for research work on many diet-related topics that link to
what we mean by a healthy diet and what is malnutrition. For example, students could find out about:
 the association between obesity and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease – How concerned
should we be with our weight?
 the huge market in vitamin pills – Do we need them?
 evidence for the role of fibre in preventing bowel cancer, diverticulitis and constipation – Why should
we eat fibre?
 the increase in cases of rickets in young children in some parts of the world over the past 10 years
and its cause – Is it preventable?
Be aware of students’ sensitivities to ethnic and social differences and to concerns about individual body
mass, and treat these with consideration.
Students could carry out their research individually, in pairs or small groups, according to time and
ability. They could use their findings to present a verbal or written report, or create a poster for display.
Alternatively, Worksheet B7.1a provides a set of questions on UK government health information that
cover advice on the amount of nutrients and energy we get from our food. The final question might be
used as a class activity, to explore what is a healthy diet and how you persuade people to eat healthily.
Before starting on this work, it may help to discuss some of the terminology and groups, such as
saturated fats, calories and salt, and why these are focused on.
4. Energy in food
Worksheet B7.1b gives students an opportunity to measure the energy in different foods. This is a useful
practical for discussing the reliability of data, as noted in the Developing investigative skills box on page
127 of the Student Book, and links well to a discussion of energy balance in the diet.
Demonstrate how to skewer a piece of food safely with a needle.
Check that students have drawn up a suitable table for their results before they carry out the tests. Some
students may need help with the calculations in questions 2 and 3 of the analysis and interpretation.
Students should find that foods containing fats release a higher proportion of energy per gram than those
consisting mainly of carbohydrates or proteins. However, the weaknesses with this method (loss of large
proportion of energy direct to surrounding air and other materials, and incomplete combustion of food
before combustion stops) will limit the reliability of their data.
You could show them an image of a bomb calorimeter, which is used to avoid most of these problems.
SAFETY INFORMATION: Students should wear eye protection to protect against possible splashes from
hot water, or sometimes broken glass shards from broken boiling tubes, etc. (stirring can knock the
bottom out of the boiling tube). Students should stir with a plastic stirring rod or wooden splint, not with
the thermometer.
Remind students that no food should be eaten in the laboratory.
 7.1: Diet

Students should switch off the Bunsen burner once a food is burning. They should always handle foods
with heatproof tongs. Remind them to not heat the water with the thermometer in.
5. Variation in dietary needs
Worksheet B7.1c provides some data about dietary needs in different groups of people, with questions
that will help students identify and try to explain some of the differences.
Extended 6. Deficiency diseases
Split the class into groups of three, and number each student in a group 1, 2 or 3. Students should
research the following according to number:
1. rickets
2. anaemia
3. kwashiorkor (or marasmus).
Each student should make notes on what they find to identify the causes and effects of the diseases.
After students have had time to collect their information, allow time for each member of the group to
report back to the rest of the group, and for the others to ask questions about causes and effects so that
they learn about all three diseases.
7. Consolidation: healthy eating notes
Ask students to imagine that they are part of a government health advice group. They should work in
pairs or small groups to prepare a list of five points that cover how to make sure the population of the
country gets enough food and eats healthily.
Take examples from around the class and group the responses according to whether they are advice to
individuals, advice to the government department that makes sure sufficient quality food is available for
everyone, or advice to farmers who grow the food, and shops and supermarkets.

Technician’s notes
Be sure to check the latest safety notes on these resources before proceeding.
The following resources are needed for the class B7.1b, per group:
boiling tubes
thermometer
water at room temperature
plastic stirring rod or wooden splint
clamp and stand
Bunsen burner
heatproof tongs
needle
selection of foods
25 cm3 measuring cylinder
weighing balance
Choose a selection of foods that can be held with tongs and/or a needle, such as crisps, cheese, bread,
biscuits. Ideally, try to select foods that are mainly of one food group, that is, proteins, carbohydrates,
lipids (though the latter is most difficult – cheese is the most suitable here).
NOTE: Tongs are better for brittle materials, whereas a needle is better for rounded materials. Foods
containing nuts should not be used because of potential nut allergies. The room should be ventilated
thoroughly to remove smoke, etc.
 7.1: Diet

Answers
Page 125
1. carbohydrates, proteins and fats
2. carbohydrates from pasta, rice, potato, bread, wheat flour; proteins from meat, pulses, milk products,
nuts; fats from vegetable oils, butter, full-fat milk products, red meat
3. vitamins, minerals, water and fibre
4. vitamins and minerals needed for maintaining health of skin, blood, bones, etc.; water needed to
maintain water potential of cells; fibre needed to help digested food to move easily through the
alimentary canal
Extended 5. Kwashiorkor is caused in young children by a diet low in protein. It results in swelling of
the feet and abdomen and loss of muscle tissue, hair and teeth.

Developing investigative skills, page 127

1. a) As the food burns, energy is released. The energy is transferred to the water molecules in the tube,
causing the temperature of the water to rise. This rise in temperature is measured by the thermometer.
b) Care is needed because of the burning food. There should be something below the apparatus that
is not flammable (such as a heatproof mat) to catch anything that falls. The burning food should be
held on a mounted needle or in tongs, and a heatproof glove used to hold the needle/tongs. The area
should be kept clear of anything that is flammable, and there should be good ventilation to remove the
fumes of burning.
2. a) food 57.3 J/g; leaf 8.8 J/g
b) so that you can compare the amount of energy in each food more easily
3. food/crisp
4. Seeds/nuts/food will provide the animal with more energy more rapidly than eating leaves.
5. Not all of the energy released in burning is transferred to the water molecules; a lot escapes to the
surrounding air. An enclosed set of apparatus (calorimeter) would increase the efficiency of transfer of
energy to the water molecules.

Page 128
1. Any answer along the lines of: different people need different amounts of energy every day, for
example: active people need more than people who are seated for much of the day; men have a larger
average body mass than women so will need more energy to support that extra tissue; some groups of
people need more of a particular group of nutrients than others, e.g. pregnant women need additional
iron.
2. Food that contains more energy than the body uses is converted into body fat, leading to obesity,
which is associated with many health problems. A diet that is too low in energy leads to health problems
as a result of low body weight.
3. a) Obesity is caused by a diet that contains too much energy, and is associated with many diseases.
b) Starvation is a diet too low in energy and/or nutrients, leading to health problems from deficiency
diseases or breakdown of muscle tissue for energy.
c) Constipation is caused by too little fibre in the diet and may lead to diseases such as bowel cancer
and diverticulitis.
 7.1: Diet

Worksheet B7.1a
1. fruit, vegetables, fibre
2. Fruit and vegetables are key sources of vitamins and minerals in the diet. Fibre is essential for healthy
working of peristalsis in the alimentary canal, and prevention of constipation and related problems.
3. Any suitable answers, such as: does not identify which nutrients so cannot tell whether you are ending
up with lots of some and not enough of others; does not identify portion size; what if you don't like fruit
and/or vegetables, what can you eat instead?
4. It includes all the main food groups, not just fruit and vegetables.
5. about one-third
6. Any suitable answer, such as: simple visual image easily translated into a meal on a plate; shows
balance of food groups in diet; easy to substitute one food in a group for another.
7. Any suitable answers, such as: what if you are not eating a whole meal?; does not apply well to
snacks; difficult to apply to food eaten over whole day.
8. Energy content; main food groups, i.e. fats, proteins and carbohydrates; saturated fats; sugars; fibre;
sodium and salt equivalent.
9. Energy content is the amount of energy in the food, so helps you see what energy you need to use to
maintain an energy balance. Fats/lipids are needed but high saturated fat intake is associated with heart
disease. Carbohydrates are needed for energy, but having too much as sugar is associated with a risk of
diabetes and obesity. Fibre is important for healthy working of the alimentary canal. Sodium/salt
equivalent is given because high levels in a diet may be a problem for people with heart disease.
10. It shows what proportion of the average daily adult intake of each of the risk food groups is in the
food.
11. Any suitable answers, such as: lists of numbers are not easy to make sense of; takes time to add up
all the information from all the labels on the foods; who will bother?
12. These are the key elements of food that can cause concern as noted in answer to question 9 (cals =
energy) – a simplified way of displaying data from table.
13. It shows you how much you will get of each of the food groups that are of concern, so you can
balance it with other foods with lower amounts of those during the rest of the day.
14. Any suitable answers, such as: do the people who need to actually bother to look at the labelling?;
does everyone understand percentages?; the guideline daily amount is an average, so may not be
appropriate advice for everyone
15. Any suitable answers, such as: lots of different advice so confusing; few people take notice of food
advice when eating
16. Any suitable answers that take into account trying to get a complex message across simply to
different groups of people.

Worksheet B7.1c
1. One graph each for vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium and iron. Note the vitamin D graph could stop at
10 years. Each graph should start with one line for males and females up to at least 10 years, after
which the lines will diverge for each gender. Additional points should be marked for women who are
pregnant or breastfeeding, above the main line, as appropriate.
2. Vitamin C increases with age up to around 18 years for both sexes, after which it levels out.
Vitamin D decreases from birth, and is not included in the table after 10 years.
 7.1: Diet

Calcium starts at 525 mg/day, drops a little at 1–10 years, increases to 1000 mg/day for boys aged
11–18 years, then drops to 700 mg/day after puberty. Values are lower for girls during and after puberty.
Iron increases rapidly in the first year to 7.8 mg/day, drops a little during childhood to 10 years, increases
to 11.3 mg/day for boys during puberty and decreases to 8.7 mg/day in adulthood. For girls during
puberty, the value is 14.8 mg/day during puberty and most of adulthood, but decreases to the same as
men after 50.
3. Boys need more calcium during puberty because they are usually growing larger bones than girls.
Girls need more iron when they start menstruating (having ’periods’) until they stop again at menopause,
to help replace the blood lost each month.
4. During pregnancy, women need additional nutrients for their developing baby. During breastfeeding,
women supply all the nutrients that the baby needs for rapid growth in their breast milk.
5. Vitamin D can be made by the body when in sunlight. Usually the body is able to get all it needs this
way.
6. Everyone's body is different and may work slightly differently. So some people may need more of a
nutrient than others.