Basic concepts of nutrition

1. Nutrition is the food you eat and how the body uses it. We eat food to live, to grow, to keep healthy and well, and to get energy for work and play.

2. Food is made up of different nutrients needed for growth and health.

• All nutrients needed by the body are available through food.
• Many kinds and combinations of food can lead to a well-balanced diet.
• No food, by itself, has all the nutrients needed for full growth and health.
• Each nutrient has specific uses in the body.
• Most nutrients do their best work in the body when teamed with other nutrients.

3. All persons, throughout life, have need for the same nutrients, but in varying amounts.

• The amounts of nutrients needed are influenced by age, sex, size, activity, and the state of health.
• Suggestions for the kinds and amounts of food needed are made by trained scientists.

4. The way food is handled influences the amount of nutrients in food, its safety, appearance, and taste.

• Handling means everything that happens to food while it is being grown, processed, stored, and prepared for eating.

(Source: Inter-Agency Committee on Nutrition Education, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nutrition Program News, Sept.-Oct. 1964.)

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