Nutrition is a basic human need and a prerequisite for healthy life. A proper diet is essential from very early age of life for growth, development and active life. Nutrition is the science that deals with all the various factors of which food is composed and the way in which proper nourishment is brought about.

The average nutritional requirements of groups of people are fixed and depend on such measurable characteristics such as age, sex, height, weight, degree of activity and rate of growth.