Human nutrition
Human nutrition studies how food and nutrients affect human growth, health, and bodily function, including how the body obtains and uses them.
Macronutrient: A nutrient needed in relatively large amounts, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. These major nutrient classes supply energy and materials for growth and bodily function.
Dietary pattern: The combination of foods and beverages habitually consumed by an individual or population. Overall eating patterns connect individual food choices with health outcomes.
Metabolism: The chemical reactions that sustain life by building molecules and transforming substances and energy. Metabolism describes how absorbed nutrients are transformed and used.
Stunting: Impaired linear growth in children, commonly assessed as low height for age. Chronic undernutrition and other hardships can restrict childhood growth.
Nutritional science: The scientific study of nutrients, foods, and their effects on organisms and health. This broader discipline also studies nutrition beyond human health and populations.
Micronutrient: A vitamin or mineral needed in small amounts for normal growth, metabolism, and health. These nutrients support essential processes despite contributing little or no energy.
Dietary assessment: The measurement or estimation of foods and nutrients consumed by individuals or populations. Assessment methods help identify intake patterns and possible nutritional inadequacies.
Basal metabolic rate: The energy expenditure required to maintain vital functions while resting in a postabsorptive state. It accounts for a substantial share of daily energy needs.
Iron-deficiency anemia: Anemia caused by insufficient iron to support normal hemoglobin production. Inadequate dietary iron is one cause of this widespread deficiency disorder.
Dietetics: The profession applying nutrition science to food service, health promotion, and clinical care. Dietetics is a practice profession that applies knowledge produced by nutrition research.