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Human Nutrition and Dietetics

University, Health Sciences

Relationship between food, nutrients, and health; dietary planning. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Definition, historical evolution, and foundations of human nutrition

  • Nutrition: provision of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals).
  • Micronutrients: essential for immunity, cognitive development, and chronic disease prevention.
  • FAO: organization that develops recommendations for balanced diets and public policies.
  • Double burden of malnutrition: coexistence of nutrient deficiencies and excesses.
  • Human beings: omnivorous nature with diets influenced by geography and culture.
  • History: hunter-gatherers during the last 250,000 years.
  • Dietary adaptation: beginning of diversification toward small game and plants 100,000 years ago.
  • Iberian Peninsula: less than 20,000 years ago, meat was more than 50% of the diet.
  • Agriculture: developed 10,000 years ago; introduced grains, dairy, and a wider variety of meats.
  • Cooking: emerged as a response to the need for purity and food safety in the face of bulk storage.
  • First nutrition experiment: recorded in the Book of Daniel (comparison of diets over 10 days).

Historical evolution of nutrition and metabolism

  • 475 B.C.: Anaxagoras proposes the existence of nutrients (homeomeries)
  • 400 B.C.: Hippocrates defines food as medicine
  • 1747: James Lind discovers that lime juice prevents scurvy
  • 1930s: Scientific identification of vitamin C
  • 1771: Lavoisier identifies food oxidation as a heat source
  • 1790: George Fordyce recognizes the need for calcium in poultry
  • Early 1800s: Identification of C, N, H, and O as food components
  • 1816: Magendie identifies proteins as an essential component
  • 1840: Liebig defines the chemical composition of sugars, fatty acids, and amino acids
  • 1860s: Claude Bernard discovers the synthesis of fat from carbohydrates and proteins
  • 1880s: Takaki links white rice to beriberi
  • 1896: Baumann observes iodine in the thyroid
  • 1897: Eijkman discovers that brown rice cures beriberi
  • More than 20 years after Eijkman: Identification of vitamin B1 (thiamine) in brown rice

Nutritional requirements, the double burden of malnutrition, and the right to food

  • IDR: includes REE, RDA, AI, and UL to evaluate adequacy and safety
  • Key micronutrients: iodine, vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, folate, and vitamin C
  • FAO values: differentiated by sex, age group, and physiological condition
  • FAO/WHO priority: access to diverse foods and nutrition education over supplementation
  • Double burden of malnutrition: coexistence of undernutrition and overweight/obesity
  • Critical zones: South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America
  • Causes of the double burden: ultra-processed foods, globalization, and urban sedentary lifestyles
  • Right to food: physical and economic access guaranteed by the State
  • Legal instruments: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

Food insecurity and the right to food in Latin America and Argentina

  • Structural causes: poverty and inequality limit access to food.
  • Public policy approach: universality, participation, and accountability.
  • Key mechanism: resource transfer to vulnerable households.
  • Right to food: must be a State policy and food sovereignty.
  • Regional instrument: Protocol of San Salvador (1988).
  • Legal basis: Article 12 of the San Salvador Protocol (adequate nutrition).
  • Countries with progress: El Salvador, Honduras, and Ecuador.
  • Countries with challenges: Bolivia and Mexico (rural poverty and lack of funding).
  • Inequality factors: socioeconomic, gender, ethnicity, and territory.
  • Cause of malnutrition: obesogenic environments (ultra-processed foods, children's advertising, lack of regulation).
  • INCAP Recommendation (2019): dual interventions (malnutrition and obesity).
  • Necessary actions: breastfeeding, marketing regulation, and nutritional education.
  • WHO focus: intersectoral policies and sustainable food systems.
  • Situation in Argentina: low consumption of fresh produce linked to low income and education.
  • Consequence in Argentina: higher burden of non-communicable chronic diseases.
  • Social impact: lack of access reproduces intergenerational inequalities.

Malnutrition in Argentina and constitutional protection of the right to food

  • ENNyS 2: conducted between 2018 and 2019
  • Overweight and obesity: most frequent form of malnutrition in Argentina
  • Children under 5: 13.6% excess weight (10% overweight, 3.6% obesity)
  • Children under 5: 7.9% low height (chronic malnutrition)
  • Population aged 5 to 17: 41.1% excess weight
  • Adults: 67.9% excess weight and 33.9% obesity
  • Lower-income groups: higher obesity and lower consumption of fresh foods
  • Lower-income groups: high consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Right to food: implicit protection in the National Constitution
  • Legal basis: Article 75, subsection 22 of the National Constitution
  • Constitutions-level instruments: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Convention on the Rights of the Child

Flashcard preview (6 of 25)

  1. 01

    In human nutrition, what components define macronutrients?

    Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

  2. 02

    In human nutrition, what components define micronutrients?

    Vitamins and minerals.

  3. 03

    What type of diet have humans adopted due to their ability to consume both plant and animal products?

    Omnivores.

  4. 04

    How many years ago did agriculture develop in multiple places around the world?

    About 10,000 years ago.

  5. 05

    What is the first recorded nutrition experiment in history (Book of Daniel)?

    Comparison of health between a diet of legumes/water vs. fine foods/wine.

  6. 06

    In 1747, what food did James Lind discover that prevented scurvy in sailors?

    Lime juice.

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