What is the significance of nutrition to health?

Nutrition is related to brain function. Malnutrition will have a disastrous impact on the brain development of infants and young children, leading to mental and physical stunting, which cannot be remedied in adulthood, and will also pass on the defects to the next generation. If adults are malnourished, there will be symptoms such as poor endurance, fatigue, decreased attention and memory, which will affect the efficiency of physical and mental work.

Nutrition is directly or indirectly related to the occurrence and development of many diseases, such as iodine deficiency goiter, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin D and calcium deficiency rickets and so on. Malnutrition and decreased immunity will increase the prevalence of infectious diseases, prolong the course of disease and affect rehabilitation. Nutritional imbalance often becomes the inducement of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and some tumors, which seriously affects human health and even threatens life.

Malnutrition can also affect endocrine function, including gonadal dysfunction. Women will have amenorrhea, and men will have sexual dysfunction, which will affect the fertility rate. Malnutrition in pregnant women can easily lead to premature birth, congenital nutritional deficiency, congenital malformation or stillbirth. Generally speaking, the comprehensive impact of nutrition on health is most profoundly reflected in mortality and average life expectancy.

Rational nutrition is the most basic and important link of health care and disease prevention. It can not only promote growth and development, enhance physical fitness, improve intelligence, improve work efficiency and improve competitive level, but also ensure normal birth, promote prenatal and postnatal care, help to maintain youth, delay aging and prolong life; It can also promote tissue regeneration, enhance the body's resistance to diseases, and reduce morbidity and mortality. Even if you are unfortunately ill, you can shorten the course of disease and accelerate your recovery through diet adjustment during your illness.

For each individual, nutrition is related to functional status, intelligence level, labor ability, immune function, prenatal and postnatal care and life expectancy. For a nation, nutrition is related to the overall quality of the nation, to the health level of a generation or even generations, and to the future of the country and the nation. All this warns people anytime and anywhere: in order to be healthy, we must attach importance to nutrition.