A family living in a remote area has limited access to fresh food. Their diet consists mainly of white rice, cooking oil and small amounts of salted fish. Explain how this diet is likely to affect the health of a young child in this family.
Written & reviewed by James Millett — Biology (Imperial College London), PGCE Science (University of Cambridge).
White rice provides carbohydrate but very little protein, vitamins or minerals. Cooking oil provides fat. Salted fish provides some protein and salt but very little of other nutrients.
Model answer (5 marks)
The diet is unbalanced and lacks variety of nutrients.
1. Insufficient protein will impair growth and body repair.
2. Lack of vitamins or minerals will cause a deficiency disease – for example, lack of iron can lead to anaemia.
3. Excess fat or energy intake compared to expenditure could lead to obesity or being overweight.
4. High salt intake from salted fish may increase the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.
1. Insufficient protein will impair growth and body repair.
2. Lack of vitamins or minerals will cause a deficiency disease – for example, lack of iron can lead to anaemia.
3. Excess fat or energy intake compared to expenditure could lead to obesity or being overweight.
4. High salt intake from salted fish may increase the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.
Examiner tips
- Use the exact wording from the mark scheme (e.g. "unbalanced", "insufficient protein", "deficiency disease").
- Give a specific example of a deficiency disease (iron anaemia, scurvy, rickets).
- Show the link between excess fat and obesity, and between salt and hypertension.
- Keep the answer concise – one sentence per point.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up protein with carbohydrate – students may say the child will be short‑statured because of low carbs.
- Failing to give a specific deficiency disease – just saying "nutrient deficiency" is not enough.
Mark scheme (5 marks)
- The diet is unbalanced / lacks sufficient variety of nutrients
- Insufficient protein will impair growth / body repair
- Lack of vitamins or minerals will cause a deficiency disease (with a correct example, e.g. lack of vitamin C causes scurvy / lack of vitamin D or calcium causes rickets / lack of iron causes anaemia)
- Excess fat or energy intake compared to energy expenditure could lead to obesity / being overweight
- High salt intake (from salted fish) may increase the risk of high blood pressure / cardiovascular problems
Related
- All OCR A-Level Biology B — Advancing Biology (H422) revision notes →
- How to answer a "Explain" question →
- Decode the mark scheme abbreviations →
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