Food, Nutrition and Health
The Food, Nutrition and Health part of the ASSEB HSLC Elective Home Science paper tests whether you can name a nutrient's function and source, match a deficiency to its sign, and explain how cooking and storage change a food's nutritive value. Items appear as short answers, matching, and applied meal-planning questions.
Nutrients by function
- Energy-giving: carbohydrate (4 kcal/g), fat (9 kcal/g), protein (4 kcal/g when used for energy).
- Body-building: protein, calcium, iron, zinc.
- Protective: vitamins, minerals, water, fibre.
Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are stored in the liver and fat tissue. Water-soluble vitamins - B-complex and C - are not stored, dissolve in cooking water, and are destroyed by heat, air and alkalis such as baking soda.
Deficiency signs to memorise
Vitamin A – night blindness and xerophthalmia; vitamin D – rickets in children, osteomalacia in adults; vitamin C – scurvy with bleeding gums; thiamine (B1) – beriberi; niacin (B3) – pellagra; iron – anaemia; iodine – goitre; protein – kwashiorkor (oedema, fatty liver) and marasmus (severe wasting).
Saving nutrients in the kitchen
Wash vegetables whole before cutting, cut into large pieces, use the minimum water with a lid, pressure-cook where possible, never add cooking soda to green vegetables, and use the cooking water in dal or gravy.
Worked example
A snack contains 10 g protein, 20 g fat and 40 g carbohydrate. Energy = (10 × 4) + (20 × 9) + (40 × 4) = 40 + 180 + 160 = 380 kcal. Reasoning: multiply each gram figure by its Atwater factor, add, and always state the unit.
Traps that cost marks
Swapping kwashiorkor and marasmus; claiming vitamin C is stored in the body; advising soda to keep greens bright; giving energy as a percentage instead of kcal.