Energy Budgets

Question 1

What is one calorie?

Answer 1

• one calorie is the quantity of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1cm³ of water by 1°C

Question 2

What is a kilocaorie?

Answer 2

• 1 kc = 1000 calories
• food labels normally display units of 1000 calories, called kilocalories

Question 3

How many joules are in one calorie?

Answer 3

4.18 Joules = 1 calorie

Question 4

How many Joules is a Kilojoules?

Answer 4

1 kJ = 1000 Joules

Question 5

What does basal metabolic rate refer to? (BMR)

Answer 5

• basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body needs for basic bodily functions not accounting for any movement or exercise throughout the day.
• calories needed at rest

Question 6

What does body mass index refer to? (BMI)

Answer 6

• the body mass index provides a measure of relative mass based on the weight and height of the individual

Question 7

What does obese refer to?

Answer 7

• obese is a medical term used to describe a person with a high excess of body fat

Question 8

What does DRV, EAR, LRNI and HRNI stand for?

Answer 8

• DRV = dietary reference values
• EAR = estimated average requirement
• LRNI = lower reference nutrient intake
• HRNI = higher reference nutrient intake

Question 9

Why is ‘wait-to-hip’ ratio a better measure of obesity than BMI?

Answer 9

• a large-scale case-control study, the INTERHEART study showed that people who had a history of CVD had a higher ‘waist-to-hip’ ratio than the people than those of the control group
• there is a continuous positive correlation between waist-to-hip ratio and heart attack

Question 10

How does food contain stored energy?

Answer 10

• food contains stored energy in the form of biological molecules such as carbohydrates and lipids

Question 11

What does the term energy budget describe?

Answer 11

• energy budget describes the amount of energy taken in by an organism minus the amount of energy the organism transfers during life processes such as respiration

Question 12

How can energy budget be calculated?

Answer 12

energy budget can be calculated by:
energy input - energy output = energy budget

Question 13

How much kilocalories (kcal) or kilojoules (kJ) does an average adult need per day?

Answer 13

• average adult needs around 2000 kcals per day to maintain healthy weight
• average adult needs about 8700 kJ a day to maintain a healthy weight

Question 14

What can energy imbalance affect? How can energy budgets be balanced?

Answer 14

• energy imbalances can affect weight gain
• the amount of energy taken in should equal the amount of energy used, or transferred

Question 15

How can an individual gain weight from energy imbalance?

Answer 15

• they can gain weight if energy intake is higher than energy output
• because excess energy is converted into fats by body
• if energy imbalance remains like this then they will eventually become overweight and obese

Question 16

How can an individual lose weight from energy imbalance?

Answer 16

• can lose weight if energy intake is less than energy output
• because body will need to take energy from elsewhere and fat reserves will be converted to energy
• if energy imbalance stays like this the individual will become underweight