Calorie Count

A calorie (with a capital C) is a unit that measures the amount of energy in foods. It is also known as a kilo calorie and is equal to 1,000 calories (with a small c). A calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. An adult might eat up to 3,000 Calories a day. Eating too many Calories that the body does not use for energy may make you fat. Nutritionists and scientists also use another unit, the kilojoules, for measuring the energy in food. One calorie equals 0.004184 kilojoules. The figures below are based on the average number of Calories a 70 kg adult burn when doing an activity for one hour. A lighter person uses fewer calories and a heavier person more.

What we eat
How much food do you think you’ll eat in a lifetime? Every few years the British Government carries out a national survey to find out how much people eat. The average person will eat more than 50 tonnes of food over an 80-year life span.