Health, Hygiene, Nutrition and First Aid
Health, Hygiene, Nutrition and First Aid
This domain tests definitions, nutrient functions and deficiencies, and the correct first-aid sequence.
Core concepts
- Health (WHO): a state of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.
- Hygiene: personal (bathing, handwashing, oral care) and environmental (safe water, waste disposal, ventilation).
- Balanced diet: carbohydrates 4 kcal/g, protein 4 kcal/g, fat 9 kcal/g, plus vitamins, minerals, fibre and water.
- Deficiency diseases: night blindness - vitamin A; beri-beri - vitamin B1 (thiamine); scurvy - vitamin C (ascorbic acid); rickets - vitamin D; goitre - iodine; anaemia - iron.
- First aid priorities: danger, response, airway, breathing, circulation. CPR for an adult is 30 compressions to 2 breaths at 100–120 per minute, depth 5–6 cm.
- RICE for sprains: rest, ice 15–20 minutes, compression, elevation.
- Burns: cool running water for about 20 minutes; no ice, toothpaste or ghee. Snakebite: immobilise, remove tight items, no cut or tourniquet. Fracture: splint in the found position; do not straighten.
Worked example
A 14-year-old has bleeding gums, slow-healing wounds and eats almost no fruit or vegetables. Reasoning: bleeding gums point to fragile capillaries and poor collagen formation; slow healing confirms a connective-tissue problem. Vitamin C is needed for collagen synthesis, so the deficiency is scurvy, not vitamin K deficiency (which causes prolonged bleeding from cuts). Advice: citrus fruit, amla, guava, tomato; refer if severe. Name the nutrient, the function, the disease and the food source - four marks.
Traps
- Applying adult BMI cut-offs to children; use age- and sex-specific growth charts.
- Reversing the CPR ratio or compression rate.
- Putting ice or ointment on a burn.
- Using a tourniquet on a snakebite.