Exaplain the facter affecting the nutrional status of a person
Answers
Explanation:
Biological factors include age, gender, growth, disease states, and genetic makeup. Among the nonbiological factors, socio-economic status is the most important. Poverty is one of the major socio-economic causes of variation in nutrient intake, and it also impacts nutrient requirements.4 Dec 2011
Answer.
Nutritional status is very important for health, as it is a major determinant of health. It depends on many factors like nutrient intake, type of food taken, frequency of food, co-morbid conditions like diabetes, any chronic infections like tuberculosis, repeated infections like acute diarrhea, respiratory infections, hormonal factors like thyroid, etc. Socioeconomic status and cultural practices also play an important role in determining nutritional status.
Nutritional intake depends on many factors like appetite, taste, availability, and mood. Adequate amount of food intake is essential for optimal nutritional status. Excessive intake can lead to obesity and decreased intake leads to under nutrition. An adult with moderate activity needs around 2400 Kcal/day. The intake should also be in adequate proportions (balanced diet). These requirements depend on the age, gender, and other physiological status of the person.
Diabetes and other co-morbid conditions: When food utilization consumed by the body is hampered, nutritional status is also hampered. When glucose utilization is disturbed, other biochemical processes (lipid and protein metabolism) in the body go berserk, usually accompanied by loss of weight. In addition, diet restrictions also lead to deficiency of vital minerals and vitamins in people suffering from diabetes.
Chronic and acute infections can lead to weight loss. This can occur in three ways. One is loss of appetite, and the second is breakdown. The third is cytokine mediated weight loss, which occurs only in people suffering from chronic infections.
Emotional factors like mood and taste can also affect appetite and food intake. Depression can cause a person to go into starving unknowingly and hence become underweight. Sometimes, depressed people also tend to overeat, leading to obesity.
Cultural factors like festivals and religious customs that require consumption of certain foods on certain days and certain times can also influence nutritional status. Sometimes these are beneficial, but most times it either leads to unhealthy starving or unhealthy eating.
Economic factors are very important elements that affect nutritional status of a population. Poorer communities are either unable to afford healthy food, or in some situations are not able to afford food at all. On the other hand, affluent communities, while able to afford healthy food, at times succumb to temptations of consuming unhealthy food, which again leads to nutritional imbalance.