Nutrition
Although deaths from food poisoning often hit the headlines, the level of illness and premature deaths resulting from poor diet is becoming increasingly well known.
Diseases caused or affected by diet include some of the major killers of today – heart disease and many types of cancer, for example. But poor diet and nutrition can also affect the quality of life. Obesity can lead to problems with mobility, whilst a lack of calcium in the diet can lead to brittle bone disease in older women.
The importance of healthy food for young children is now a focus for many of the nutritional policies and strategies being put in place, as this not only helps to protect the health of young people but helps to set a pattern of healthy eating for life. However, every group in society – male or female, young or old, needs to think about the kind of diet that delivers their nutritional needs.
Healthy eating is not just about eating "rabbit food" – although eating 5 items of fruit or vegetables a day is known to bring about health benefits. Often, changing ingredients to healthier options and/or changing the way we cook things can help to make favourite dishes healthier, without us having to change the way in which we eat or do without the foods that we love.
Information on healthy eating is available from a range of sources – but care is needed to ensure that the information is scientifically based. Unfortunately, food and dieting is such big business that biased information and crank diets can be found in bookshops and on the internet.
Reliable sources of information on nutrition include