8Ac balanced diets

• If you eat the right amount of a wide variety of foods you have a balanced diet
• people who have a problem caused by too much or too little of a nutrient in their diets are said to suffer from malnutrition
• people who lack a nutrient for a long time can suffer from deficiency diseases
• Lack of protein


  causes kwashiorkor, one symptom is pot belly, caused by fluid collecting around the intestines and muscles that become too weak to hold the stomach in.
• lack of vitamin a

  causes night blindess
• lack of vitamin c


  causes scurvy and causes painful joints and bleeding gums
• lack of vitamin d and calcium

  causes rickets where bones do not form properly
• lack of iron


  causes anaemia with symptoms such as tiredness and shortness of breath
• most severe form of malnutrition is starvation, in which people lack nearly all the nutrients they need.
• people who are overweight tend to get heart diseases when fat clogs the arteries and stops enough blood reaching the heart muscle tissue.
• people who are overweight are more likely to have a high blood pressure, which can damage the heart or kidneys or cause blood vessels to burst
• people who are overweight are called obese