MATSEC SEC Home Economics cheat sheet

Home Economics

• Nutrient energy values: carbohydrate and protein each supply 4 kcal per gram, fat supplies 9 kcal per gram, alcohol supplies 7 kcal per gram; these figures underpin all energy-balance calculations.

• The Eatwell Guide proportions: fruit and vegetables about one third of intake, starchy carbohydrates about one third, dairy and alternatives roughly 8 percent, protein foods roughly 12 percent, oils and spreads used sparingly.

• Macronutrient functions: protein for growth and repair (amino acids), carbohydrates as the main energy source (glucose, fibre for gut health), fats for energy storage and fat-soluble vitamin absorption (A, D, E, K).

• Key micronutrients and deficiency signs: iron deficiency causes anaemia and fatigue; calcium and vitamin D deficiency causes rickets in children; vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy; iodine deficiency causes goitre.

• Food safety temperature rules: chilled storage at 0-5 degrees Celsius, freezer at -18 degrees Celsius or colder, reheated food must reach 70 degrees Celsius or above for at least two minutes, danger zone is 5-63 degrees Celsius.

• The four food safety principles are cleaning, separating raw and cooked food, thorough cooking, and chilling; cross-contamination from raw meat juices to ready-to-eat food is the main risk.

• Textile fibre identification: cotton burns with a paper smell and grey ash, wool smells of burning hair and forms a crushable black bead, polyester melts and forms a hard bead; these tests distinguish natural from synthetic fibres.

• Consumer protection in Malta: the Consumer Affairs Act and the EU Consumer Rights Directive give a two-year legal guarantee for faulty goods, plus a 14-day right of withdrawal for distance purchases.

• Family life cycle stages: beginning family, expanding (childbearing), launching (children leave), ageing family; housing, income and nutrition needs shift at each stage, which is the basis of resource-management questions.