Nutrition and Food Safety
Core concepts
Know macronutrients and micronutrients, energy balance, and the consequences of deficiency (iron, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin D, folate) and excess (obesity, diabetes). Understand nutritional assessment (anthropometry, biochemical, clinical, dietary), growth standards, and the double burden of malnutrition. Master food safety principles: hazard types (biological, chemical, physical), the five keys to safer food, HACCP, and foodborne illness causes. Be familiar with food labelling, fortification, and food security.
Traps
- Confusing food security (availability, access, utilisation, stability) with food safety.
- Mixing marasmus (energy deficiency) with kwashiorkor (protein deficiency with oedema).
- Forgetting that HACCP is preventive and process-based, not end-product testing.
- Assuming all foodborne illness is bacterial-viruses and chemicals matter too.
Worked example / rule of thumb
BMI = weight (kg)/height (m)². A person 1.70 m and 85 kg: BMI = 85/2.89 ≈ 29.4 (overweight). Rule of thumb: BMI <18.5 underweight, 18.5–24.9 normal, 25–29.9 overweight, ≥30 obese. In children, use age- and sex-specific z-scores, not adult cut-offs.