metabolic rate

A healthy diet contains all the different nutrients in the correct amounts, and provides the right amount of energy for each individual. An unbalanced diet can lead to a person becoming malnourished. They may be too thin or too fat as a result, and they may suffer from deficiency diseases.

Respiration is the chemical reaction that allows cells to release energy from food.

The metabolic rate is the speed at which such chemical reactions take place in the body. This varies because of several factors, including:

• age
• gender (male or female)
• the proportion of muscle to fat in the body
• the amount of physical activity / exercise
• genetic traits (what has been inherited from parents)

The metabolic rate increases as we exercise and stays high for a while afterwards.