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Your metabolic rate is increased by exercise.

Unit 1 - Balanced Diet

In this GCSE Biology quiz you will revise what a balanced diet is, which nutrients it includes, and how food choices affect health and energy levels.

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Fascinating Fact:

The proportions of nutrients needed in a balanced diet vary with age, activity level, and factors such as pregnancy or illness.

In GCSE Biology, you learn that a balanced diet supplies the right amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre, and water. Understanding nutrients helps explain how diet supports growth, energy release, and long-term health.

Key Terms

Balanced diet: A diet that provides all the nutrients the body needs in the correct proportions to stay healthy.
Nutrient: A substance in food, such as protein or vitamin C, that the body needs for energy, growth, or repair.
Malnutrition: Poor health caused by an unbalanced diet, which may include too little or too much of certain nutrients.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is a balanced diet in GCSE Biology?

In GCSE Biology, a balanced diet is one that contains the right amounts of all main nutrients, plus fibre and water, so the body can work properly and stay healthy.

What nutrients should be in a balanced diet?

A balanced diet includes carbohydrates for energy, proteins for growth and repair, fats for energy and insulation, vitamins, minerals, fibre for digestion, and plenty of water.

How can an unbalanced diet affect your health?

An unbalanced diet can lead to tiredness, poor growth, weakened immunity, and diseases such as obesity, heart disease, or deficiency diseases linked to lack of specific vitamins or minerals.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

What is anorexia caused by?

Not enough energy intake

Too much fat

Not enough protein

Not enough exercise

Some young people feel pressured to stay very thin by not eating enough and end up being dangerously underweight and lacking in vitamins and minerals. This can stunt growth and lead to health issues from nutrient deficiencies which affect the person's health throughout their life. Remember, a balanced diet should contain the correct amounts of each of the nutrients as well as being in the right proportion

2 .

Which one has the highest energy content?

Protein

Fat

Sugar

Starch

Fats contain more than twice the energy of carbohydrates. It is harder for your body to get energy from fats and so it often ends up being stored. That is why high fat foods like fast foods and ready meals cause people to put on weight

3 .

A balanced diet must have carbohydrates, proteins, fat, fibre, vitamins and which other type of food?

Fatty acids

Cholesterol

Water

Minerals

Lack of certain vitamins and minerals can lead to deficiency diseases

4 .

What is protein needed for?

Insulation

Energy

Healthy bones

Growth and repair

Proteins are digested to release amino acids

5 .

Which of the following increases your metabolic rate?

Eating

Exercise

Sleeping

Being overweight

Exercise increases respiration in your cells and therefore uses up more of the nutrients you eat

6 .

What might you develop if you are overweight?

Kidney disease

Type 1 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes

Lung disease

A poorly balanced diet that leads to a person becoming overweight increases the risk of this form of diabetes

7 .

Which of the following can be a cause of heart disease?

High cholesterol

Low unsaturated fats

High metabolic rate

Not enough fibre

There are many other factors too such as smoking, not eating a balanced diet, genetics and more

8 .

Starch belongs to which group?

Protein

Fat

Carbohydrate

Minerals

Starch is made up from sugars joined together in long chains

9 .

A diet which is low in fibre could lead to which disorder?

Heart disease

Bowel cancer

Diabetes

Cystic fibrosis

Fibre is the indigestible parts of the fruit and vegetables that you eat

10 .

A deficiency of iron in the diet could lead to what?

Scurvy

Pellagra

Anaemia

Skin problems

Iron is found in all foods and you may be surprised to learn that only a quarter of your daily intake of iron comes from meat and fish. You might think that vegetarians could be short of iron but that is not often the case since many nuts and pulses (e.g. soya beans) they use to replace the meat in their diet contain significant quantities of iron

Author: Donna Davidson (GCSE Biology Teacher & Examiner, Quiz Writer)