Calories

What are calories? What do they measure? The number of kilocalories in food and drink measure the amount of energy we consume. It is important to have a good balance between the amount of energy that goes into our bodies and the amount of energy that we use. It is a simple case of input and output.

Everyone needs a different quantity of calories. Taller, more active teenage boys need more calories than a short, inactive grandmother, for example. It is important to consume the correct number of calories every day for your age, gender, height and lifestyle.

An average male adult need approximately 2500 kcal every day. An average female adult needs approximately 2000 kcal every day. And what about children and teenagers? Let’s look at Tom and Mike. Tom is 13 years. he needs approximately 2414 kcal a day. Mike is 18 years old. He needs approximately 3155 kcal a day. But bot Tom and Mike must eat healthy food and not junk food to get their calories. They must also do exercise every day.

But how do we know how many calories we consume every day? Well, all the food and drink we buy must have a nutrition label. Tis label gives us information about the fat, protein and sugar content for example. It also tell us how many calories 100 grams, 100 millilitres or 1 portion of the food or drink contains.