BECE JHS
Food supplies nutrients. A balanced diet has the nutrients the body needs, in amounts that match the person, and the food is safe to eat.
Body building foods supply protein, for growth and repair. Examples are fish, beans, meat, eggs and groundnuts. Energy giving foods supply carbohydrate or fat. Examples are kenkey, rice, yam, bread, oil and groundnut paste. Protective foods supply vitamins and minerals. Examples are oranges, kontomire, tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits. Water is not a nutrient in the same list, but the body needs it. A meal that is only one of these groups is not balanced. A balanced diet uses foods from the groups in amounts that suit the person. A growing child and a person doing heavy work do not need the same plate.
A shortage shows up as a deficiency. Too little protein in a child can lead to kwashiorkor. Too little vitamin C can lead to scurvy, with bleeding gums. Too little iron can lead to anaemia. Too little iodine can lead to goitre. Name the nutrient and the condition. Do not swap them. Food also has to stay safe. Drying, salting, smoking, refrigerating and canning slow the microbes that spoil food, so it lasts beyond the harvest. Wash hands, cover food, cook meat thoroughly, and keep raw food off the same board as food that is ready to eat. Personal hygiene, food hygiene and a method of preservation are three different points. A marker can award each one.
The Career Technology tips guide sets out the papers, the strands, and how to answer the practical. BECE Career Technology tips
Give the group, the nutrient and one example when the question asks for a class of food. "Energy giving" without an example, or an example with no group, is half an answer. Deficiency answers must pair the missing nutrient with the condition. Preservation answers must name the method and the reason, which is to slow spoilage, not merely "to make it nice". If the question says explain, the reason is the second mark.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
4 marks
(a) Name the three food groups used in meal planning. (3 marks)
(b) Give one example of a body building food. (1 mark)
(a) Body building, energy giving and protective.
(b) Fish.
3 marks
State the nutrient that is short in each condition: kwashiorkor, scurvy, anaemia. (3 marks)
Kwashiorkor is a shortage of protein. Scurvy is a shortage of vitamin C. Anaemia is a shortage of iron.
3 marks
Give two methods of preserving food, and one reason for preserving it. (3 marks)
Drying and salting. Food is preserved so that microbes do not spoil it before it can be eaten.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise Career Technology freeA diet that supplies the nutrients the body needs, from body building, energy giving and protective foods, in amounts that suit the person. One food, however filling, is not a balanced diet.
To slow the microbes that spoil it, so the food can be kept and eaten later. Drying, salting, smoking, refrigerating and canning are methods. The method is the first mark. The reason is the second. All BECE Career Technology past questions