It is very important to eat a balanced and healthy diet which covers all classes of food, namely carbohydrate, protein, vitamin, fiber, water, mineral and fat in the right amounts every day to help provide sufficient nutrition your body needs.
Malnutrition means an unhealthy diet with one or more classes of food missing or in wrong quantities.
Marasmus is an example of a disease caused by undernourishment. The signs of marasmus are underweight, shrunken facial appearance and thin arms and legs.
Kwashiorkor is another disease that is caused by a severe lack of protein in the diet. The signs of kwashiorkor are pot-belly, dry skin, loss of muscle tissue and low body weight.
Nightblindness and scurvy are other examples for deficiency diseases related to malnutrition due to deficiency of vitamins.
Lack of minerals and vitamins also causes deficiency diseases such as anaemia and rickets.
Obesity
Obesity occurs when a person eats excessively until his food intake is more than the daily energy requirements of his body. Excess food in the human body is changed into fat and stored under the surface of the skin and surrounding internal organs such as heart. The accumulation of fat in the body is the main source of obesity and causes an increase in body weight. A person is obese if his body weight is 20% more than the ideal weight that corresponds with his height and age.
Obesity can cause serious health problems such as breathing difficulties. This is because the diaphragm and abdominal muscles do not function normally due to the accumulation of fat beneath the skin. Obesity can also lead to heart and kidney diseases, diabetes as well as hypertension (high blood pressure). These problems can be overcome by reducing taking sweet, oily and salty foods still the consumption of fruits and vegetables needs to be increased. Physical activities or sports are effective in overcoming obesity. This is because plenty of energy is required carrying out these activities. This energy is obtained from the excess fat stored in our body.
Bad eating habits such as the excessive consumption of food with high cholesterol as well as sweet and salty food can lead to heart diseases, diabetes and hypertension.
Other diseases resulting from unhealthy eating habits are anorexia nervosa, arteriosclerosis and stroke.
Anorexia nervosa
These are dangerously thin people, only they fail to recognize as such. Avoiding food is an obsession with them. They would rather stick to certain low calorie food or would carefully weight and portion food. People with anorexia may repeatedly check their body weight, and many engage in other techniques to control their weight such as intense and compulsive exercise or vomiting. Girls with Anorexia often experience a delayed onset of their first menstrual period. If things get worse, it can even cause death.
Arteriosclerosis and thrombosis
Arteriosclerosis
Arteriosclerosis is caused by cholestrol accumulating in the inner walls of arteries that in turn reduces the lumen of the arteries
Thrombosis
Anjung Sains Makmal 3 