Calculating Dietary Energy
Calculate and evaluate energy intake and requirements in a healthy daily diet, interpreting food labels and nutritional data
What a learner can do afterwards
- Reads and interprets a nutritional information label (kJ and kcal)
- Estimates daily energy requirements for a person of a given age/activity level
- Compares the energy content of different diets and identifies surpluses or deficits
The lesson
Food labels list more than ingredients. They also show energy, the fuel your body gets from food. Energy is measured in two units: kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal). On labels, kcal is often just called Calories.
kJ and kcal measure the same energy, just in different sized units. One kcal is about 4 kJ, so the kJ number on a label is always roughly four times bigger than the kcal number.
A chocolate bar label says: Energy 800 kJ, 200 kcal per bar. Maya checks the numbers: 200 kcal times 4 is about 800 kJ. They match, so she trusts the label.
Everyone's daily energy need is a bit different. It depends on your age, size and how active you are. A rough guide for someone your age is about 2000 kcal a day, more if you train hard. Add up the kcal in your meals and snacks, then compare the total to your daily guide to spot a surplus or a deficit.
Read the kJ and kcal on the label, add up a day's meals, and compare the total to your daily energy guide.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Nothing builds on it yet.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.