Bukit View Secondary School

Body Composition

What is:a

• body composition?
• total nutrients levels?
• nutrition?
• metabolism?
• resting metabolic rate?
• fat?
• maintaining body composition?

Your whole body and all the energy you need is made from the nutrients you get from food. The food uses nutrients to provide energy and structural materials, to regulate growth and maintenance, and to repair its tissues. Body composition is the relationship among the body's different kinds of structures, usually expressed as the ratio of lean body mass (muscles, bones, organs,, and water) to body fat. Lean body mass is dense and heavy while fat tissue is less dense and lighter than lean tissue. Fat is distributed under the skin, around body organs, and in the muscle tissue. To maintain a healthy body composition, you must perform cardiovascular, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility exercises.

Total nutrient levels are greater during adolescence than at any other time of life. The energy you need varies greatly, depending on your current rate of growth, body size, gender. genetics, and physical activity. Iron, calcium, and protein are key nutrients for developing lean body mass and bones during adolescence.

Nutrition is the study of food and how the body uses it. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins provide energy (calories) that affect body composition. Other essential nutrients include water, minerals, trace elements, and vitamins to help develop and maintain a healthy body composition. Eating habits affect energy intake, while exercise affects energy output. A healthful diet plan, coupled with physical activity, optimises health.

Nutrition and physical activity go hand in hand. Activity demands carbohydrates and fats as fuel, protein to build and maintain lean tissue, vitamins and minerals to support metabolism and build tissues, and water to help distribute the fuels and heat.

Metabolism includes all the reactions the body uses to obtain and spend the energy from food. Your body's top priority in life is to fuel the cells to keep them alive. energy from food supports every activity from quiet thought to vigorous activity. When you don't eat, the body must turn to other sources for fuel. This may be the energy reserves of carbohydrates and fats in the cells or the proteins in your muscles. When you eat too much over a five to seven day period, the unused energy will be deposited into a "saving account" (usually fat) to be withdrawn later for energy.

Engaging in regular physical activity is essential to maintaining desired body composition. The resting metabolic rate (RMR) is how much energy the body burns while at rest. Physical activity increases RMR, which in turn reduces levels of body fat (influencing physical appearance and health) by using body fat for energy. Physical activity also affects muscle tone and total weight. The number of calories you burn is based on the amount of weight you move, the distance you move it, and the duration of your effort. Exercise over time will increase your basal metabolic rate. Maintaining healthy body composition requires a lifetime of continuous activity and appropriate eating habits.

People decide what to eat, when to eat, and even whether to eat in highly personal ways, often based on behavioural and social motives rather than awareness of nutrition's importance to health. Food choices and practices are often influenced by social interactions, culture, availability, physical appearance, and emotional comfort. A healthy diet includes a balance of nutrients, a variety of foods, and moderation in food choices and servings.

The body needs a healthy amount of fat to protect vital organs, keep warm. use vitamins effectively, and provide energy. Too much or too little fat can be dangerous to your health. Inactive lifestyles and poor nutrition practices can lead to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, anorexia, or bulimia.

Many people will try anything to lose weight quickly. Consequently products such as "miracle" supplements, diet pills, and fad diets have become popular. Starvation diets and diet pills may show a quick weight loss on the scale, but in the end, most people gain the weight back plus some more. Some people also use steroids and so called muscle building supplements to develop muscular mass and definition. These products can harm or kill users. Using steroids has sever side effects, including heart, lung, and kidney problems.

To maintain a healthy body composition, you must perform cardiovascular, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility exercises.