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WBCHSE HS Vocational Health Care study materials
WBCHSE HS Vocational Health Care study resources

WBCHSE HS Vocational Health Care: Nutrition, Dietetics and Human Development

WBCHSE HS Vocational Health Care · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Nutrition, Dietetics and Human Development

Scope

Nutrition questions test the composition of a balanced diet, the energy value of nutrients, deficiency diseases at each life stage, and the difference between a normal and a therapeutic diet. Calculating BMI is a common scoring item.

Core rules

  • Energy: carbohydrate 4 kcal/g, protein 4 kcal/g, fat 9 kcal/g. A balanced diet supplies cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruit, milk and fats in proportion, with fibre and water.
  • ICMR guidance favours cereals as the staple, plenty of vegetables, seasonal fruit, salt under 5 g a day, limited sugar and oil, and iodised salt.
  • BMI = weight (kg) ÷ height (m)². For Asian Indians: underweight below 18.5, normal 18.5–22.9, overweight 23–24.9, obese 25 and above.
  • Deficiencies: protein-energy malnutrition - marasmus (severe wasting, no oedema) versus kwashiorkor (oedema, low protein, fatty liver); vitamin A - night blindness; thiamine - beriberi; iron - anaemia; iodine - goitre.
  • Therapeutic diets: diabetic - high fibre, no refined sugar, regular meals; hypertension and some renal cases - low sodium; renal - controlled protein, potassium, phosphorus and fluid; post-surgical - clear fluids to full fluids to soft to normal.
  • Life cycle: exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months, complementary feeding from 6 months, extra protein, iron, calcium and folate in pregnancy and lactation, extra energy and iron in adolescence.

Worked example

A 62 kg man is 1.55 m tall. Reasoning: height² = 1.55 × 1.55 = 2.4025. BMI = 62 ÷ 2.4025 = 25.8. With the Asian Indian cut-off of 25 for obesity, he falls in the obese range, although a Western chart would call 25.8 only overweight. Note the risk, then advise diet review, 30 minutes of activity on most days, and screening for blood pressure and blood glucose.

Traps that cost marks

Using the Western 25/30 cut-offs; calling kwashiorkor a pure energy deficiency; discarding cooking water and losing water-soluble vitamins; giving honey to an infant under one year; prescribing a low-salt diet without explaining hidden sources.