Diet, Nutrition and Hydration

What Diet, Nutrition and Hydration covers

Diet, Nutrition and Hydration is examined in AS Unit 1, Exploring physical education. It covers A balanced diet and energy balance, Carbohydrates, fats, proteins and the glycaemic index, Diets for different sports and pre-competition meals and hydration and sports drinks.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Physical Education students sit this topic in the first year.

• A balanced diet and energy balanceA balanced diet and its proportions, energy balance, positive and negative balance, measuring energy in food with a worked kilojoule conversion, the extra energy performers need, and the risks of a severe deficit.Open →
• Carbohydrates, fats, proteins and the glycaemic indexThe functions of carbohydrate, fat and protein, carbohydrate for health and performance, protein for strength athletes, and the glycaemic index with high-, medium- and low-GI foods.Open →
• Diets for different sports and pre-competition mealsFood fuel use by intensity, duration and fitness, endurance and power athletes' diets, diet and type of training, pre-competition meals and their timing and content, eating during long events and after exercise.Open →
• Hydration and sports drinksWhy hydration matters, the effects of dehydration, hydrating before, during and after exercise, isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic drinks, the marathon runner, monitoring hydration and hot conditions.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Diet, Nutrition and Hydration further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Isotonic drink vs Hypotonic drink

  Isotonic drink: a fluid with a concentration equal to body fluids. Hypotonic drink: a fluid more dilute than body fluids.

• High GI food vs Low GI food

  High GI food: a food that raises blood glucose quickly. Low GI food: a food that raises blood glucose slowly.

• Carbohydrate vs Protein

  Carbohydrate: the main fuel for moderate and high-intensity exercise. Protein: the nutrient used mainly to build and repair muscle.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is a balanced diet?

   Model answer

   A balanced diet contains the right amounts of each nutrient for health and activity. A balanced diet includes carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water.

2. 2

   What are the relative proportions of carbohydrate, fat and protein in a balanced diet?

   Model answer

   About 55% of energy should come from carbohydrate and about 30% from fat. About 15% should come from protein.

3. 3

   What is energy balance?

   Model answer

   Energy balance is when energy intake equals energy expenditure. Body mass then stays the same.

4. 4

   What happens when energy intake exceeds expenditure?

   Model answer

   The extra energy is stored as fat. Body mass increases.

5. 5

   What happens when energy expenditure exceeds intake?

   Model answer

   The body uses stored energy. Body mass decreases.

6. 6

   How is energy in food measured?

   Model answer

   Energy is measured in kilojoules or kilocalories. One kilocalorie is about 4.18 kilojoules.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Diet, Nutrition and Hydration revision questions

Is Diet, Nutrition and Hydration examined at AS in WJEC Physical Education?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 1, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Diet, Nutrition and Hydration cover in WJEC AS-Level Physical Education?

4 subtopics: a balanced diet and energy balance, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and the glycaemic index, diets for different sports and pre-competition meals and hydration and sports drinks. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Diet, Nutrition and Hydration organised?

By the WJEC 601-8485-1 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.