Complete this essay with appropriate words and phrases from the box below. You may need to change the form of some of the words.
balanced diet carbohydrates cholesterol consume consumption diet (noun + verb) exercise fast food fat fiber fresh harvest health food junk food malnutrition malnourished minerals nutrition nutritious obese obesity overweight processed scarce scarcity shortages vitamins |
Children love eating (1) .........., but burgers, chicken nuggets and other heavily (2) .......... food products not only contain a large number of unhealthy chemicals and other additives, but also lack the essential (3) .......... and (4) .......... that a child needs. In addition, they also contain a lot of (5) .......... and (6) ..........which, if eaten in quantity, can result in childhood (7) .......... (in fact, a recent survey suggests that 39% of 8-15 year-olds are seriously overweight).
Many children end up (8) .........., since they eat too much of the wrong sort of food. In fact, in many parts of the developed world, a lot of children show similar symptoms to those in poorer developing countries, where food (9) .......... cause thousands of deaths from starvation, especially in the wake of natural disasters which ruin crops and in some cases totally destroy the annual (10) .......... . Furthermore, the large amounts of (11) .......... in animal and dairy products (a common feature of fast food) are believed to be partly responsible for increased cases of heart disease in young people, a recent phenomenon that is causing great concern.
It is therefore important children learn the benefits of eating a (12) .........., as it is essential they consume sufficient quantities of the different food groups. They should be encouraged to eat more (13) .......... fruit and vegetables, and also more food that is high in (14) .......... They should still be allowed the occasional burger or pizza, but these should be seen as an occasional treat rather than forming the main part of their diet.
