Lets learn more about food - Part 8 Fat - Information for small kids

When we hear the word 'fat', we usually think of a person who is overweight, but fat is also found in food and is part of our daily diet.  We can take in small amounts of fat everyday, but too much will make us pick up weight.

We need to eat a balanced diet, which means food from the whole food pyramid - fat is part of this.

Fats can be either in liquid or solid form at room temperature and even while we use 'oil' to refer to fat in liquid form and 'fat' when it is a solid, the actual correct term to refer to fats in  any form is 'lipids'.

It is important that the body has some measure of fat, since it gives energy and also help to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K since they are 'fat soluble' which mean they need to dissolve in fat in order to work.

Fat is also important to help with a healthy skin and protecting organs like the kidneys against injuries.  

Although fat do play an important role in out bodies, too much fat is not good for the body and being overweight can cause a lot of problems and illnesses.

There are two types of fat - 'saturated and unsaturated'.

Saturated fats are generally solid at room temperature and are natural fats from animal or plant sources. Saturated fat is an unhealthy fat that raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease. 

Foods that contain a lot of saturated fat is not very healthy and it is usually takeaways and processed foods like pies, donuts and pastries.  The unsaturated fats are usually a liquid at room temperature, like sunflower oil or olive oil and this is a 'good' fat which our bodies actually need.

1. Where do we find 'bad' fats?
2. What is the name of 'good' fats?
3. In which products do we find this type of fats?
4. Why is it important to know which fats are good or bad for us?

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