# 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.

> OCR A-Level Biology B — Advancing Biology (H422) — 2.3 Diet, nutrition and health · Explain · 5 marks

> 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.

## Mark scheme (5 marks)

1. The diet is unbalanced / lacks sufficient variety of nutrients
2. Insufficient protein will impair growth / body repair
3. 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)
4. Excess fat or energy intake compared to energy expenditure could lead to obesity / being overweight
5. High salt intake (from salted fish) may increase the risk of high blood pressure / cardiovascular problems

## Related

- [Revision notes for OCR A-Level Biology B — Advancing Biology (H422)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

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